Sword Art Online: Arpeggio of Steel
by CossackSabre
Summary: There's a simplicity to life, add enough consequences and anything becomes reality. For the 10,000 players of Sword Art Online, this game has just become our reality. Kirito, Asuna? They're strong; they've got morals, reputation, and much more. Me? All I've got is a will to survive and reflexes. But, in the end, it's not strength that matters, it's survival.
1. A Different Kind of Truth

**Chapter One: 'A Different Kind of Truth.'**

 **November 6th, 2022.**

My eyes flashed towards the digital clock that hung in my room yet again. That had been about, what, the thirtieth time that hour? Today, I had only one goal in mind: to survive until one o'clock and then delve into the world of an incredible game that was about to launch.

That game was Sword Art Online, or SAO, and it was by all rights a scientific marvel. It was created by the genius Kayaba Akihiko, a young programmer who had 'a dream of a metal castle in the sky.' As if the world of SAO wasn't impressive enough, Kayaba had also designed a piece of hardware known as the NerveGear, which could emulate all five of the human senses.

The appearance of the NerveGear was little more than a helmet constructed of black metal, with a visor covering the wearer's eyes. Whether through some cosmic alignment, or by sheer luck alone, I had managed to not only get an invite to the beta test –which had ended a few months ago– but also acquire one of the extremely limited 10,000 copies of Sword Art Online. People had waited outside of the stores for days in order to get a copy of the game, and I was one of the last that had managed to acquire one of these moon-rocks of a game.

Regardless, with my rabbit's foot thoroughly wrung of its luck, I had gone ahead and endured the arduous calibrations and other various procedures that the NerveGear required. After all, it made sense –a machine that would be intercepting my nerve patterns and neural signals had instructions for a reason, and I would hate to have a screwy NerveGear.

I cast another glance at the clock: four minutes until the launch of SAO. I felt my lips curl into the faintest representation of a smile as the fruits of my patience were about to ensue. My dad should arrive at around eight, so that gave me a solid seven hours to return to that incredible castle known as Aincrad.

With my Ramones music now silenced, I connected the NerveGear and laid upon my bed. After finally finding a comfortable position, I tried not to watch the time that was shown in the NerveGear's display. Instead, with a glance, I ensured that the system's internal battery was charged. It was just a precaution, just in case anything happened. With a few minutes left to spare, I allowed my mind to wander.

I had used Full Drive technology before, but, even so, diving into the game was something that you never got used to. It felt like a real-life version of Tron, just minus the Grid, the Lightcycles and murderous sociopathic representations of the human conscience, aka CLU. I chuckled to myself, wondering if Kevin Flynn had ever thought about Full Drive technology.

Tron aside, the experience of leaving yourself and becoming a different person was actually fascinating. Easy to see why the technology was so appealing; it was like a fresh start of sorts. Perhaps, if you really practiced with the Sword Skills in this game, you could actually retain a degree of skill with a blade in reality.

For me, the idea was illustrious. While I was fairly tall, I was thin, and never really played many sports. In short, I was your average teenager who enjoyed playing video games, although I did consider myself quite good at them. Of course, that may have been what others call a 'major superiority complex' tainting my perception, but, lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.

However, such 'sheep' were indeed right about their observations of my energy conservation. While they used the slightly unattractive term of 'lazy', I happened to think myself a world-class energy conservationist. If I don't have to do something, I won't. If I have to, I'll talk my way out of it – hopefully.

]Mental wanderings aside, I finally opened my eyes and checked the time: one minute separated me from the world of Sword Art Online. Those few remaining seconds passed painstakingly slowly, each one an eternity, and finally, the digital display turned to one o'clock.

Excitement rose in my chest, and a faint grin crossed my face as the words rose in my throat,

"Link start!" I declared.

Immediately, the NerveGear responded, and my vision went entirely white. Columns of various colors rushed at me, and I felt as though I was falling. Eventually, the sensation stopped, and five readouts, each representing the various senses of the human body appeared before me. Each one, encapsulated in a blue circle, was cleared with a green 'OK' after a few seconds before dissipating.

A display for language confirmation appeared, and I selected Japanese. After that, I quickly entered the password for my account, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that my avatar from the beta test had been saved. My character's name and gender were displayed next to each other: Raiden (M).

Initially, there had been an almost overwhelming number of character customizations available. I could have even played as a female, though I had quickly dismissed that, and had elected to keep the avatar's appearance somewhat similar to my own. Raiden was taller than myself, though I worked diligently to preserve my appearance.

I had dark green eyes, which were usually locked in some bored expression and fastened outside a window and gazing at the clouds. I also had taupe-brown hair –try finding that in a MMORPG's color palettes– with bangs that just reached below my eyes.

Thankfully, all that tenacity had been rewarded as the game had saved my account from the beta, and I was able to quickly save myself a great deal of time. Finally, the screen turned grey and displayed a greeting. 'Welcome to Sword Art Online!'

Suddenly, blue bolts of electricity rushed around me, and I once again felt as though I was falling. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by a brilliant blue sky as faint white particles floated upwards. I found that I was standing in a cobbled, open area that was quickly filling with other players as they dove into Sword Art Online.

I looked downwards to confirm my gear – I was wearing basic black boots along with dark pants. A wry smile crossed my face as I clenched my fist, which was encased in a black fingerless glove. In spite of my motion, I knew that my body had not moved at all in the real world. However, the area around me was rapidly becoming crowded, and I swiftly headed away from the crowds, praying that no one recognized me as a beta-tester.

As I left, I found myself walking down a narrow alley lined with various NPC stores that were stocked decent wares. As I had just entered the game, I decided to bypass the stores until I had the funds to actually _purchase_ something, rather than just stand around and gawk at their items.

So far, the game had seemed almost identical to the beta test that I had taken part in a few months earlier. While, at the end of the beta, my equipment had been at a much higher level that what it was at now, I figured that I would be able to reach that level in half the time if I worked diligently.

Back then, I had gotten fairly far into the game, although I continued to get sidetracked by an almost overwhelming amount of side-quests. If nothing else, those quests helped me to get to a decent level, in spite of the limited amount of time that the beta-testers had. But if I was to reach that level again, I would have to start by grinding out some mobs.

I quickly navigated out of the Town of Beginnings, the scenery smoothly transitioning from large stone structures to the rolling verde and foothills that lay just outside the Town's walls. In a word, even though I had seen them before, they were simply spectacular.

Dirt pathways traced their way through the grass, bordered by patches of flowers of various colors here and there. Infrequent hedgerows of coniferous trees stood in rows like soldiers at attention at the tops of some hills. In the distance, fantastical structures arcing upwards stood in the distance, each topped with an immense garden.

In spite of these surreal surroundings, I could experience it as though I was actually _here._ I could feel the blades of grass shift underneath my feet, watch the branches of the trees sway in the wind, and smell the fresh scent of summer's air, in spite of the fact that it was November in the real world. That was why these virtual reality games were so overwhelming, even for seasoned Full-Drive players; it was more than just imagining yourself in someone else's world; you were actually _inside_ a world entirely of someone else's imagining.

The dirt crunched as I headed a fair distance away from the Town of Beginnings, now in the area known as the West Field. There usually weren't too many players this far away from the Town of Beginnings, so, in theory, that meant more mobs for me. My theory seemed correct, as I saw a low-level boar standing a few meters away.

As I sighted my target, I sunk into a readied stance and drew my sword. It wasn't anything spectacular, just a slightly-curved narrow saber with a gleaming silver blade and a basic black hilt, but it would suffice.

I had selected to start with the saber due to the fluidity of its movements. If you practiced, the saber could almost rival a rapier in speed, although it allowed for the user to also make extremely deadly slashing strikes. Basically, the saber allowed me a greater degree of mobility without compromising my variety of strikes.

In the distance, I heard a few other players beginning to engage the mobs as well. I needed to pick up the pace or a great deal of the mobs would be taken out by those other players. Quickly, I knelt and grabbed a stone from the ground and took careful aim at the boar.

The pebble began to hum and glowed a faint red, and one I had charged the skill, I released. The stone rocketed towards the boar and impacted its flank with a dull slap. The mob squealed and whirled to face me, its eyes burning red as it saw me. I smirked at the creature, and the boar stamped its hooves and began to charge at me.

 _Initial motion. That's one of the most crucial parts to combat in SAO. Get the initial motion right, and activate a Sword Skill at the right time and the system almost always guarantees a hit,_ I thought as I readied myself. I slowed my breathing and aimed the saber at the target. The sword began to glow a dim red and whistle. Now, it was a matter of aim and patience. After a few moments, the boar was in range.

Now! I released my strike, and, the saber arced towards its target, only to narrowly graze the top of the boar. I hardly had the time to gasp before the boar slammed into a very sensitive region and sent me to the ground.

Thankfully, SAO didn't simulate pain, else I would have been in a great deal of it. Even so, I writhed on the ground for a few moments, running through every curse word that I knew, before I quickly stood up and dusted myself off. I looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that no one had witnessed that whole fiasco. Pride somewhat intact, I stood to reengage my target.

A few feet away, the boar grunted, displeased by its close shave.

"Right, enough screwing around," I muttered.

I readied myself once more and ran towards the boar. The saber gleamed in the sunlight as I sprinted towards the mob, who turned with a surprised snort. He wasted no time in immediately whirling around and racing towards me. The two of us charged towards each other, intent on finishing each other off.

 _Careful aim,_ I thought as I ran. That was the component that I was missing. My strike had been poorly aimed, and I had tried to fight the system in an effort to control my aim, rather than allowing the system to correct it and ensure a hit. It was a mistake that I would not allow to happen again.

With a shout, I unleashed my Sword Skill and the saber arced through my target, leaving a thin red line running from snout to tail on my opponent. The pig uttered a small squeal as its single health bar depleted to nothing and it shattered into brilliant shards.

"Good riddance," I said with a smirk as I replaced my saber. A display appeared in front of me that showed how much Cor, Aincrad's currency, and EXP I had obtained from the kill. It wasn't much, but every journey begins with a single step. This was step one: obtain the keys, or something.

Although odd at first, SAO's fluid combat system was very easy to get the hang of. It was an interesting experience, fighting with your actual body in a video game. Having the system ensure that your strikes hit their target felt somewhat unusual, though. Nonetheless, the combat dynamic was addictive to say the least.

The only slightly unusual thing was that there was absolutely no magic in SAO. Players were only armed with edged weapons such as swords, spears, and various types of knives. There weren't any ranged weapons in SAO like bows, either.

It was a risky maneuver, making an MMORPG that didn't have magic in it, and relied solely upon its combat system. Magic was usually a given in these sort of games, but, perhaps there was some reason that Kayaba hadn't added magic features into his game. Even without magic, SAO was groundbreaking in every right.

Suddenly, more boars spawned with blue bursts of light before me. Now that I had gotten back into the swing of things, this would be a breeze. Thankfully, I managed to remember how to actually use Sword Skills as I slashed through my enemies.

With a growing amount of Cor and EXP, I looked over a field and saw two players also grinding mobs. There shouldn't have been too many players this far away from the Town of Beginnings, and that meant that there was a fairly high chance that either one or both of the players were beta testers. After all, around one in ten players in this game was a beta-tester. One was wearing primarily black gear and was talking to another player who seemed to have some fetish for the color red. Seriously, his hair was red, his gear was red, heck, he even wore a red headband with his red hair! I watched the two from a hedgerow.

Red had a short curved blade, and he was apparently attempting to master the use of Sword Skills. He attempted to strike a boar, although he failed to activate the Sword Skill and the boar slammed into a very sensitive region.

Sent reeling, Red writhed on the ground for a few moments in false agony. I chuckled at the scene, until I realized that _I_ had been that very same person a few minutes earlier. Still yet, it was hilarious to watch someone else struggle similarly. I was just close enough that I could hear the two players' conversations.

"You're making it look worse than it is," the player in black said, unamused. "You can't actually feel pain."

"Oh, right." Red said as he quickly stood to his feet. "Guess I just did that out of reflex."

I scoffed, _Reflex, sure it_ _is_ _._

Black began to run him through a brief tutorial on how to use Sword Skills. It was easy to discern that he was one of the 1,000 beta-testers. He explained the importance of the initial motion and how to use a Sword Skill by charging a pebble –the thief– and hitting the boar with it.

The boar rushed at Black, and he quickly juked the pig. The boar turned and continued its attack, although Black caught it by running his sword in between the creature's tusks.

"Pause for a second, and when the skill charges, just let it rip." he said as he broke his lock on the boar and threw the mob off balance. The beta-tester dealt a swift kick to the boar and the creature instead turned to attack Red, who had been standing behind and watching.

"Just let it rip..." Red said, looking at the sword in his hands. Quickly, he sunk into a readied stance, and his sword began to glow a dim yellow. Once it was fully charged, he unleashed the skill and his sword arced through the boar, tracing a similar thin red line across the upper half of the creature. The mob floated for a few seconds before shattering, and a display appeared in front of Red.

A ridiculous smile crossed his face as he screamed in glee and high-fived Black. I was worried that his face was actually going to split in half. Seriously, I have never seen another person so happy in my life. Ever. At any time. Though, once Black explained that the boar was about as strong as a slime in other RPGs, that seemed to let a little wind out of Red's sails.

"You're kidding!" Red exclaimed.

"No, of course I'm not." Black said as more boars began to spawn.

I chuckled to myself, surprised that there was anyone so daft. That is, until I heard a snort and a squeal from behind me. Before I could draw my saber, the boar ran directly into my back and sent me flying from my cover and rolling down a hill to the other players. Great. So much for cover, and of all the places for a boar to spawn, it had to be _right_ behind me!

Both players jumped at my appearance, as they didn't have access to the Searching skill yet. Immediately, Black narrowed his eyes and aim his sword at me.

"Well, nice to meet you, too." I said. Bad move; Black began to charge a Sword Skill. Curse you, fractious tone! "Wait, wait, wait!" I said as I waved my hands frantically. Apparently, if I wanted to keep my head, sarcasm was not the way to go. Hopefully, by keeping my hands a fair deal away from my sword, they wouldn't recognize me as a threat.

"Are you a PKer?" the player in black asked, his sword still very close to my person.

"No, no, nothing of the sort." I said. It _was_ true, after all, I really didn't have any intentions of killing these two. "I just heard you two while I was fighting mobs. I was curious because I didn't think there would be too many players in the West Field."

The black-haired swordsman laughed, and thankfully it didn't sound threatening. He dropped his sword slightly,

"So, you were the guy we heard swearing over the hill."

Crap! Someone actually _did_ hear me!

"Sounds like that boar got you good." the player in red said with a snicker as he put his sword in its sheath.

"Like you've got any room to talk." I muttered, "Anyways, the name's Raiden." I said, careful not to say my actual name as I rubbed the back of my head. I figured that an introduction would help to defuse the situation.

"Klein." the red-haired swordsman said as he pointed towards Black, "And he's Kirito. Nice to meet you, Raiden." the player known as Klein said as he extended a hand, which I quickly shook. Judging from his handshake and tone, it was fairly evident that Klein was a people's person.

"Kirito's a beta-tester, and he's been helping me figure out the basics of the game."

"Another one?"

Klein snorted at that,

"Wait, wait," he said, before pointing at me, _"You're_ a beta-tester?"

I nodded slowly, regretting that I had let that slip. Now I would never hear the end of it.

"You mean one boar gave you all that trouble, and you're a _beta-tester?_ " he asked, tears threatening to pour from his eyes as he struggled to keep himself from bursting with laughter.

"Look, that boar just got lucky. If you'll remember, I got my revenge."

"Yeah," Kirito said, "Whatever you say, Raiden." Kirito said, waving his hand, "So, what weapon did you choose to start with?"

While it seemed like a simple question, knowing what weapon someone else used put you at a very great advantage. Just by knowing a player's weapon, you could tell what type of Sword Skills that they might use, what the range of their weapon is, and, most importantly, how to counter it. Regardless, he seemed like a trustworthy enough person.

"A saber." I said, as I revealed my blade. "I'm planning on a faster, more agile build."

"I see." Kirito said. "You thinking of going with a rapier later on?"

"Nah." I said as I shook my head, "I like the versatility of the saber. It keeps my options open."

In all honesty, versatility was something that I was aiming for from the beginning. Even in games that I had played before SAO, I had always preferred a versatile-aggressive type of class. A certain amount of fluidity in combat could provide you with good advantages in combat. It was all a matter of deception. Of course, I may have been reading too much in the Art of War when I was developing that strategy, as that was one of Sun Tzu's key principles.

"Well, since you're here, why don't you join up with us?" Kirito suggested with a small grin.

Though surprised, I figured that, if nothing else, it would at least be more efficient to work in a group.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah man, besides, if we work together, we can watch each other's backs, make sure that no boars sneak up on us." Klein said with a friendly smile on his face.

"Well, when you put it that way, how could I refuse?" I said.

With my two new unlikely allies, we began to clear the surrounding mobs. Kirito offered a helpful piece of advice to Klein every now and again, and he seemed to be getting the hang of the Full Drive system fairly quickly. That was a benefit of SAO, once you started to learn the combat system, it almost came naturally after that.

We tackled various mobs, and time seemed to flow faster as we cleared the West Field of its occupants. As we fought, we collected valuable EXP and Cor, and my inventory was slowly filling with upgrading materials gathered from the various types of mobs that I felled. As we fought and moved from location to location, I studied my newfound allies.

My initial assumption about Klein was spot-on. Loud, brash, and boisterous, he was easily the type of person who would light up a room simply with his presence. He was very sociable, and easy to talk to, and he maintained a conversation almost continuously throughout combat; however, I had noted that he was slightly reserved in speech and action after I had been kicked from the bushes by the boar. Presumably, he was letting the more experienced player settle matters and determine if I was actually a threat or not.

Kirito, though, was a different story. He was a little more difficult to read. From what I could gleam, he seemed to be a decent enough person, offering his experience as a beta-tester to a beginner. He even took valuable time to actually demonstrate how to properly use a Sword Skill to said beginner. But, in any case, he seemed far more reserved than Klein. However, there was something _off_ about him.

Every now and again, he would smile, though it really appeared to be more of a genuine _attempt_ at a smile, rather than an actual smile. Simply put, there was something off about it. I would know, there were many times that I would have to put on a convincing enough smile back in the real world, and it was something that I had nigh-perfected by looking in the mirror.

After a while, the sun began to dip, painting the sky and landscape a radiant golden color. The three of us found ourselves standing atop one of the hills in the West Field, looking out over the landscape that seemed to belong in a surrealist's painting, rather than in a such a realistic video game.

In the distance, there were waterfalls falling from curving structures that caught the falling sunset brilliantly. The scene was spectacular, and I had to give credit to Kayaba, the man had a real sense of aesthetic design. Even the wind that gently brushed against my face felt real.

As the sun fell, I knew that different types of mobs would begin to spawn, and perhaps these would be worth more EXP, and hopefully drop rarer items that I could turn for a profit at the NPC shops. Maybe, if the items were useful enough, I could actually use them to upgrade my saber –upgrading weaponry was an extremely important part of SAO, after all.

A flock of dragon-like creatures flew in the distance as Klein's voice broke the comfortable silence between the three of us.

"This place is amazing." he said. For a person who seemed to have no end of words, it sounded like he was almost unable to speak for his amazement. "I mean, look around us, all of _this_ ," Never mind. He still had plenty of words. Klein indicated with his hands at the surreal scene before us, " _This_ is a _game,_ but it feel so _real._ Puts me at a loss for words."

"Well, that would be a miracle." I muttered, as I sat a few feet away from the melodramatic pair.

"You're a melodramatic guy." Kirito said as he watched the incredible sunset from a standing position.

"This is my first Full-Drive experience, after all." Klein said.

"Then it's your first NerveGear game?" I asked.

"Yeah. In truth, I only rushed to get the hardware because of SAO. I guess I'm pretty lucky that I got my hands on one of the 10,000 copies; but I guess you two are ten times luckier, you two got to participate in the beta."

Well, his maths were sound, I couldn't argue with that. It was basic proportions, after all.

"So, how far did you guys get in the beta?" Klein asked.

"It took two months to get to the eighth floor," Kirito said.

I began to tune their conversation out at this point. They were about to delve into some philosophical stuff, that much was obvious. I mean, I'm all for philosophy, but sometimes, it's better to actually take the time to appreciate what's in front of you, rather than using it as an opportunity to go on about concepts like strength and other ideologies.

So I passed the time in silence, drinking in the scene that was before me. I watched the fantastical waterfalls, listened to the faint calls of those winged creatures from before, and felt the wind's ginger caress. The sunlight felt warm and calming, and that was something that really surprised me. This scene before me not only looked real, but _felt_ real.

Suddenly, Kirito, now done with his brief philosophy, broke me from my half-trance.

"How about we get back to hunting?" he asked, as he stood to his feet.

"'Count me in!'" Klein started, "Is what I'd like to say." A loud growl punctuated his sentence, "But I'm starving, so I'm gonna log out for a bit."

"Eating food in this world only tricks you into thinking you're full." Kirito noted.

"Which is why I ordered piping hot pizza for 5:30 ahead of time!" Klein exclaimed.

"Very pragmatic." I said.

"Yup! Anyway, I'll log back in once I'm done eating." Klein paused for a moment, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face for a moment, "Hey, later on, I'll be meeting up with some friends from another game. So, how about it? I'm sure you two would fit right in. Want to be friends with them, too?"

Kirito, somewhat shocked, turned slightly away from Klein. His face had changed and taken on a more solemn expression. I considered the offer, although I felt it best not to intrude into someone else's circle of friends. I couldn't help but feel that there would be some level of awkwardness.

Klein was not oblivious to our responses, and began to wave his hand dismissively.

"No, don't worry about it. It's entirely up to you guys, after all. Besides, there'll be plenty of chances for socializing. I'm sure there'll be another time."

"Yeah, sorry." Kirito said, "But thanks anyways."

"Hey man, that's my line." Klein said as he put a hand on Kirito's shoulder, "I'll be sure to return the favor sometime. Virtually, at least."

It seemed as though Kirito thought that he hadn't really done anything worth gratitude, and he almost shrank away from Klein's compliment.

"Hey, thanks for letting me join you guys," I said. I never was one for thanks, they almost felt like goodbyes, and if there was one thing that I couldn't stand, it was goodbyes.

"No problem, Raiden." Klein said, "It was a pleasure fighting with you. Hopefully we can meet up in the future."

"Yeah," I said, looking away, "That'd be nice."

The genuineness of Klein could really get to you. I hadn't expected that he was such a grateful person, and now I knew how Kirito felt. In another display of camaraderie, Klein extended a hand to Kirito,

"I'll be looking forward to fighting with you in the future." Klein said. The action seemed to surprise Kirito further, who could only gasp slightly in response before shaking his hand.

"If you have any more questions, feel free to message me." Kirito said as he shook Klein's hand.

It seemed as though Kirito was a generous person, something that I hadn't taken him for initially. Maybe that was because I could see how similar the two of us were, but I guess there were some fundamental differences between us. Maybe that was what made him a better person that myself.

"I'll be counting on it!" Klein said, before turning to me. "You didn't think I'd leave you out, did you?"

"It couldn't have hurt." I muttered, before smiling and shaking his hand.

"Ah, don't be like that, Raiden." Klein said, "I look forward to fighting with you in the future. See you guys around," Klein said as he turned and, with a final wave, began to walk away.

"Hey, Kirito," I said, "I'll be on for a few more hours, so, if you want to work together for a bit, I think that would be a good idea."

Kirito paused, seeming almost hesitant for a moment, before he nodded and responded,

"Sounds good. If we can make it to Horunka village, we might be able to get some good gear fairly early."

"Alright. But, if you don't mind, it might be a good idea if we, I don't know...were friends in-game." I suggested, stumbling my way through the sentence.

Shocked by the less-than suave friend request, Kirito could only manage what sounded like a small noncommittal sound as a response.

"Hey, it's fine, you don't need to feel-" I started.

"No, I don't mind." Kirito said, interrupting me before I could finish. He quickly navigated through the game's menus and arrived at the friends list. Relieved that he had accepted my request, I watched a notification appeared in front of me; a friend request, my first of SAO. I accepted with the tap of a circular blue button, and noticed that this was the first time I had seen Kirito was actually smiling.

"Huh?" Klein's voice came from behind us. "Total noob question, but where's the logout button?" he asked, standing with his menu open. The two of us turned to face him, confused.

"It should be at the bottom of the options menu," Kirito said.

"No man, it's not. I checked, and it's not." Klein said.

Both Kirito and I made noises of surprise as we both opened our menus, only to find that the logout button was indeed missing. The place where it should have been was there, but it wasn't filled, and I couldn't select it.

"See, it's not there."

"Yeah, you're right, it's not." I said.

"Well, it is the first official day of service, after all. It's only natural for there to be a bug or two."

 _But wasn't that what the beta was for? To find bugs and help improve the game at launch?_ I thought. Call it a gut feeling, but something didn't sit well with me about the missing feature.

"I'm sure management's freaking out." Klein added.

"So should you," Kirito said, indicating towards the time, "It's 5:25."

Klein paused for a moment as the words sunk in, and then, a terrified expression crossed his face,  
"My teriyaki pizza and ginger ale!" he screamed as he all but sunk to his knees, a broken man.

"Hurry up and call a game master," I suggested.

"I tried that already, but no one's picking up. Isn't there another way to log out?" Klein asked, taking a moment to pause from his breakdown.

Kirito paused for a moment before a sgrimm expression crossed his face as he responded,

"No, the only way for a player to log out on their own is through the logout button in the main menu."

"Well, great." I muttered.

"What?!" Klein exclaimed. "That's impossible! There must be another way to log out!"

Desperate, he then began to make ridiculous gestures combined with phrases like "Log out!", or "Return!"

"You can't just Alt F4 this," I explained, "This is SAO. Which is why the oversight of a logout button is really strange."

"And there wasn't anything written in the manual about emergency logouts either," Kirito added as a dark cloud passed in front of the setting sun.

"Y-you're kidding, right?" Klein said.

Both Kirito and I shook our heads in response.

"I know! I'll pull the NerveGear off of my head!" Klein said as he placed his hands at his temples and attempted to pull upwards. He did little more than almost remove his red headband.

"You do realize that the NerveGear intercepts your brain signals specifically to keep you from moving around in the real world, right?" I asked.

The realization finally seemed to reach Klein, and his face dropped. That had been one of the few times I had seen him legitimately concerned.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"There's a component designed to specifically keep you from moving around while playing the game." Kirito added.

"Then the only option is to wait for a bug fix?"

"Either that, or until someone takes the NerveGear off of your head in the real world."

That wasn't good. My dad usually arrived around 8:30, so I was stuck for at least three more hours until someone could even remove the NerveGear from my head. Even then, it was fairly unlikely that he would actually do that. Unfortunately, it seemed that my only option was to wait for a patch.

"But I live alone." Klein said, "How 'bout you guys?"

"My dad should be home in a few hours, but he usually doesn't bother me." I said.

"I live with my mom and sister, and they'll probably notice by dinnertime–"

Klein suddenly interrupted Kirito by grasping his shoulders with a comical expression on his face. If the current situation wasn't so dire, I might have actually laughed at the ridiculous scene.

"H-how old is your sister?" Klein asked, unable to get the words out quickly enough.

Dumbstruck, Kirito fumbled for his words. Eventually, he managed to find his voice again.

"S-she's athletic and hates games, and she's totally not your type!" Kirito said as he attempted to back away.

Persistent, Klein continued to move forward,

"That doesn't matt–"

A swift kick from Kirito to his groin was enough to send Klein reeling with tears streaming from his eyes. He writhed on the ground for a few moments before remembering that he couldn't feel pain... _again._

"Anyway," I coughed, getting their attention, "Don't you think this 'bug' is strange?"

"Of course I do." Klein said. "It's a bug, after all."

"No, it can't be that simple." Kirito said, looking off towards the sunset. "Inability to let players log out of the game is something that would deeply affect the game."

"I see what you're saying," Klein said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but could't you resolve this situation by disconnecting the game's server and forcing all players to log out?" I asked.

"Yeah." Kirito said with a nod.

If that was the case, then why hadn't there been a system announcement? And why weren't the Game Masters answering the calls? If we had found out, I was certain that plenty of other players had noticed the absence of a logout button as well. All in all, things didn't add up, and something didn't feel right. We were left in silence for a few moments longer as we each pondered our various theories as to what was going on.

Suddenly, the deep and loud toll of a bell wrenched us from our devices. The three of us stood to our feet, our gazes fixed in the direction of the knell. Nothing good could come from a sound like that. None of us knew what to do, and we stood like soldiers at some form of perpetual attention. Not a word passed between any of us, save for one phrase,

"Never ask for whom the bell tolls," I murmured. Either Kirito and Klein didn't hear me, or they simply didn't respond, as they continued to stand in silence, gazing towards the source of the sound in a half-trance. The cloud that had blocked the setting sun passed, and I suddenly found myself engulfed in a white light.

As my vision cleared, I found that I was once again standing in the starting area. I quickly cast a glance around me, and was relieved to see that Kirito and Klein were standing beside me. In a situation like this, I would rather have been with people that I knew, rather than strangers.

We had been brought to the starting area by a forced teleport. The bell continued to ring as more players teleported in all around us.

"Someone forced a teleport," Kirito murmured. His voice was nearly lost in an increasing dialogue of the confused players that whispered to each other.

Suddenly, someone from the crowd pointed towards the sky,

"Up there, what's that?"

I gazed upwards and saw a red hexagon was floating in midair, a good distance above the starting arena.

Beside me, Kirito muttered something about a 'System announcement,' but, before I could ask him what he said, the sky became filled with such hexagons, displaying the words 'WARNING' and 'System Announcement' interchangeably.

I wanted to relax, and hope that the admins had realized that there was a problem with the game, that they were simply forcing a teleport to collect all the players in one area and tell us that there had been a problem with the game and that we would be logged out. But, as blood-red viscous fluid began to seep from the spaces between the hexagons, I started to lose faith in that idea.

The liquid began to pool in midair and collect as a massive hooded figure emerged from the fluid.

"Wh-what _is_ that?" Klein asked.

Even I found my breath hitching in my throat at the sight of the massive figure before us. It was a great deal taller than any other player in the game, and dwarfed the spires that it hovered next to. Dark smoke poured from underneath his veil, and I dug my heels into the ground, not knowing what to expect. Was this some kind of joke? Some type of boss that we would have to fight? I could hear murmurs all around me; none of the other players knew what was going on either.

The figure then spread his arms wide,

"Attention, players." A thunderous voice, befitting of the immense figure, spoke, "Welcome to _my_ world."

"My world?" Kirito repeated beside me.

From those two words, a sinking feeling of realization grew within my stomach that the figure before us wasn't just a Game Master, it was Akihiko Kayaba himself. His next words confirmed my suspicions,

"I am Akihiko Kayaba, and I am currently the one and only person who can control this world." he said, his voice calm, although there was no questioning the authority therewith.

A collective gasp of shock swept over the players. Beside me, Kirito's face paled, and I presumed that, as a fellow beta-tester, he had read about Akihiko Kayaba as well. The whispers were silenced as Kayaba continued,

"I am certain that, by now, you are all aware of the fact that you are missing the logout feature of this game."

I hoped against hope that he would say that there had been an error in the game, but he trampled those hopes with his next words,

"Make no mistake, this is by no means an error, but instead a feature of the _true_ Sword Art Online. I'll say this one more time: this was not a mistake, but an intended feature of Sword Art Online."

"A feature?" I breathed, completely shocked. I felt my limbs locked in place, and I swallowed at the realization.

"There's no way," Klein said, other players continuing his statement.

"You are all unable to log out of SAO," Kayaba continued, blatantly disregarding our shock. "Also, no one in the real world can remove the NerveGear from your head or interrupt its operation; however, should it be attempted, the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave burst and it will destroy your brain, and thus, you will die."

No, this couldn't be real. This had to be a rouse. There wasn't any way my actual _life_ was in danger. Possibly through shock alone, I managed to hold my silence. But, in spite of that, somewhere, I knew that this was real.

"He's out of his mind, right?" Klein asked. I couldn't even force myself to nod in agreement.

"The waves emitted by the NerveGear are really the same as microwaves," Kirito said, "if the safety was disabled, frying a brain wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities."

At the fringes of the crowd, a few angry players attempted to leave the arena, only to find that an invisible barrier had been raised around the perimeter of the space.

"But, what if they cut the power?" Klein asked.

I managed to shake my head in response,

"No, the NerveGear has an internal battery."

"But that's ridiculous. What's going on?" Klein asked, confusion turning to anger. Before either of us could respond, Kayaba spoke once more.

"Unfortunately, it's certainly possible that people would disregard this warning and attempt to remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players have retired from both this world and the real one."

"213 people?" a pale Kirito repeated. I felt an icy chill race down my spine.

How could Kayaba just casually speak about the deaths of so many people? Like the were test subjects, numbers on a spreadsheet. Like they died for nothing, as if they were animals! The man wasn't just a psychopath, he was a mass-murderer.

"No way," Klein muttered, "You're lying!"

As if he had heard the challenge, several screens appeared around Kayaba and began circling him. They showed screens of various media websites, all of them warning about the dangers of the NerveGear.

"As you can see," Kayaba said, indicating towards the various screens, "news of my warning and the numerous victims is being spread worldwide. This means that the risk of your NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope that this serves some form of consolation and that you will focus on completing the game."

Kirito clenched his fists, an angry scoff escaping his lips.

"But," Kayaba said, "I'd like you all to keep this one thing in mind: from this point on, all methods of revival in the game will no longer function. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted, and you yourself will perish as the NerveGear simultaneously destroys your brain." Kayaba concluded.

Kirito gasped, but, deadlocked by ice, I could not utter so much as a sound. In that instant, I was sure that every player, now faced with their own mortality, imagined the consequences of death in this game. What would it feel like, to have the NerveGear destroy your brain while your avatar shattered into iridescent shards in this world? You would gone, dead, without any memorial. _I_ would be gone, leaving nothing behind. If I made just one mistake too many, _I_ would be killed by the NerveGear.

By now, I could almost anticipate Kayaba's next words,

"There is but one condition that you must meet to be free: the completion of this game." The massive figure pressed a button and a holographic map appeared in front of him, "You are all gathered here, on the first floor –the lowest point in Aincrad. If you make your way through a floor's dungeon and conquer that floor's boss, then you may continue on to the next floor." The map began to turn red as it progressed upwards, towards the top of Aincrad, "Assuming that you make your way to the 100th floor and defeat the final boss that awaits you, the game will be considered clear."

Cries of disbelief wracked the crowd of captive players. The task set before us was monumental, this seemed more like a suicide mission rather than something that was even remotely achievable.

"You've got to be kidding me," Klein said, "Clear all 100 floors, even the beta-testers never got anywhere _near_ that high!"

Once again disregarding the disbelief and astonishment of the players before him, Kayaba spoke once more,

"And, lastly, I've prepared a present for each of you, you'll find it in item storage. Take a look."

I followed through with the instruction and opened the item storage menu. There, I found a single item: a Mirror. I equipped the item, and a small square mirror materialized in front of me and fell into my hand. It reflected the appearance of my avatar, with slightly longer hair and more rugged features, as well as piercing green eyes.

Suddenly, Klein cried out from beside me, and I saw that he was engulfed in a brilliant white light. Before I utter so much as a sound, I was engulfed by the same light. I could hear players cry out from all around us, and I presumed that the same thing was happening to them as well. Once the light cleared, I realized that I felt shorter.

"Hey, you two alright?" I asked as I turned towards Kirito and Klein. What I saw, though, was entirely different. Klein's hair wasn't anywhere nearly as long as his avatar's, and it was a deeper shade of red. I turned to Kirito, and saw that he had a far more youthful appearance than his avatar.

"W-who are you?" I heard Kirito ask.

"That's what I want to know," Klein said.

I quickly glanced down at the mirror, and found that my actual reflection was looking back at me. All of the minute errors that I could never get worked out in the game's menus, the slight difference in eye color and facial structure, all of it was gone. Instead, I was looking at myself, my _real-life_ self in a video game. Somehow, Kayaba had not only restored each of our respective faces, but also our bodies. That was the reason that I felt shorter, I had been set to my real-life height.

All around us, players were going through similar revelations, the most awkward of which culminated in players who were actually males in real life that had elected for female avatars. Were the situation not so grim, I would have found the scenario somewhat funny.

"Wha...How?" Klein asked.

"The scan," Kirito explained, "The NerveGear covers your entire head with a high-density transmitter."

"So that's how it calculates what your face looks like," I said as I approached the two.

"Raiden,"

"But," Kirito said, "our heights and builds, how is it able to determine that?"

Before either of us could answer, I had realized the truth. The so-called 'calibration' that the NerveGear ran us through, that must have been a means to get physical data about each player. Even before we had become trapped inside SAO, each of us were already setting ourselves in the snare.

"But, why?" Klein asked, "Why's all this happening?"

"I'm sure _he'll_ tell us." I said, indicating towards Kayaba.

Right on cue, Kayaba spoke,

"I'm sure that some of you are wondering why Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, would do such a thing. I have already achieved my goal. In essence, I created Sword Art Online for my own personal enjoyment. To be the god of my own world."

A psychopath, that's what Kayaba was. He was willing to trap 10,000 people inside a game of his own design, where death in game meant death in reality, for a petty reason like his 'own personal enjoyment.' And he had already killed 213 people. It was infuriating, to say the least, although, rather than anger, I felt an unusual calm, like the ice in which I was deadlocked had grown, and it was refraining me from my anger. Perhaps that was good thing, if I was angry, there was a very good chance that I would become careless. In a game like SAO, carelessness ultimately led to death.

"Kayaba..." Kirito growled through clenched teeth. He was becoming increasingly irate the more that Kayaba spoke.

"The preparations are now complete," Kayaba said, "This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the very best of luck."

With his final words still fresh in our minds, Kayaba's figure began to distort and disintegrate. The massive hooded figure before us dissolved and turned to smoke as any trace of the viscous liquid rescinded back into the system announcement hexagons above. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the sky returned to its usual appearance.

A stunned silence hung over the masses. We had been utterly shocked by Kayaba's words. This wasn't just a game any longer, this was a different kind of truth. Every word that Kayaba had spoken was the truth, and nothing less.

There was a simplicity to life. Before now, this was just a game, something meant to pass the time. Now, with the consequence of death and unable to escape from this world, Kayaba had altered reality. In the end, all that separated the real world from the false one was consequence. Now, that thin defining line was gone. This was what the different kind of truth was: add enough consequences, and anything becomes real.

Death in this game meant death in reality; the NerveGear would see to that. This was a harsh truth, one that threatened the lives of each and every player of this game. We weren't just fighting to clear the game, we were fighting to survive. If Raiden died, then my actual body would die, my life would be ended swiftly. But I wouldn't let that happen, no man like Kayaba would kill me. He couldn't kill me.

Somewhere in the crowd, a girl dropped her mirror and screamed. Hysteria overtook the masses in an instant. Some screamed to be released, while others stood in shocked silence. Several sunk to their knees, unable to face the consequence of death. Near the exits, the invisible field that kept us present for Kayaba's warning was lifted. I saw Kirito's eyes flicker towards it for the faintest second –he had noticed it as well.

"We need to move," I whispered.

Kirito nodded,

"Let's move, Klein!" he said as he pulled the man towards the exit.

Once we had reached a secluded alley, a fair distance away from other players, we stopped.

"Listen," Kirito said, "I'm heading to the next town as soon as possible. It'd be a good idea if you two headed there as well."

Klein could only manage a surprised noise in response, and Kirito took this as his cue to continue as he opened his map,

"If everything he said was true, if we want to survive in this world, it's vital that we get stronger." he said, looking at the locations of the various towns on the first floor. "The virtual resources in this game, in other words, EXP and money, are limited. The fields around the starting town will soon be cleared. In any case, the best move is to head to the next town. Even if I'm level 1, I know the best way to get there."

Judging from what he'd said earlier, I assumed that Kirito was planning to head to Horunka village. If so, that was a problem; most players would head there for the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest, which yielded a powerful sword. The problem: that wasn't the type of sword that I used; however, if I headed for Tolbana, which was much further away than Horunka, I could at least start a quest that would allow me to get a strong saber fairly early on.

But, before I could speak, Klein beat me to the punch.

"You know...I was in line all night to buy SAO with some friends that I met in another game," he cast a glance back at the starting arena, "and I'm sure that they're somewhere over there in that plaza. I can't just leave them."

Kirito cast his glance downwards, weighing the possibility of taking more than two players along with him. His conclusion was written on his face: even _one_ additional player would be a heavy burden.

"Sorry," Klein said, wrenching Kirito from his thoughts, "Besides, I can't keep making you look out for me like this. Don't worry about me and head to the next town."

"Focus on getting to the next village in one piece, Kirito," I said, "I'm heading to Tolbana."

"Raiden, you sure? Tolbana's far way, and the route's dangerous."

"You think I can't handle a few mobs? Besides, if I head there now, I should be able to get started on some good quests before most of the other players get there."

"And don't worry about me," Klein said, pointing a thumb at himself, "In the last game I played, I was the leader of my guild. I'm more than capable of holding my own."

"Unless there are any boars around," I muttered.

"Same goes for you, Raiden." Klein said, a slightly wounded expression on his face.

"If that's alright with you, then I'll get going," Kirito said as he turned and began to head away. His voice sounded pained, although he made a valiant effort to conceal it. Still yet, I was shocked by the offer. Here was this player, facing a life-or-death challenge, and he had offered to help two total strangers that he had just met that day. It was impressive to say the least, and the differences between Kirito and myself were becoming evident. In a sense, I almost admired that action. In the end, I hoped that it would not be his compassion that got him killed.

"If either of you ever get in a jam, send me a message." Kirito said before he turned to head to Horunka.

"Kirito!" Klein called, "I..." His voice failed him, and he said no more. Kirito took a few more steps forward, until Klein called again, "Hey! Kirito, you...have a pretty cute face. You're just my type,"

I paled, "Oh...the bromace is real." I muttered. "Besides, if you're comparing appearances, I'm afraid you both fall short to yours truly,"

"As if." Kirito muttered, "Klein, that unkempt look suits you ten times better!" he called, before turning his gaze to me, "Raiden...well, I'd take another look in the mirror, if I were you. I think you've got a bad NerveGear."

I smirked in response, "Just try not to get yourself killed, Kirito, Klein." I said as I started to head towards a different alley, one that would open closer to Tolbana.

"Same goes for you, Raiden!" Klein called.

"Me? Relax, I'm too stubborn to die."

With that final statement, I began to run towards Tolbana. I knew that I wouldn't make it there in one day, but the more distance I covered today, the less I had to cover tomorrow. I charged through the city, before stopping in the middle of a fairly empty street. Something felt off, and it didn't take me long to realize what.

These two players, who were total strangers and that I had just met today, were some of the closest friends that I had ever had. And now, there was a very good chance that I might not see them again, but that was now a fact of life in this game, and I would never clear it if I couldn't accept that fact. I shook my head and continued to charge through the empty streets.

The stone structures once again began to give way to golden fields that were curtained by the falling light. I wouldn't let this world be the end of me. I wouldn't die in this game, not not, and not yet.

Suddenly, along the path before me, a large wolf spawned, red eyes gleaming. Without stopping, I continued to sprint towards the creature, charging a Sword Skill all the while. With silent precision, I tore through the creature with my saber and sprinted past the iridescent shards left behind. I was going to fight this game until the very end, and I was going to win! I would defeat this different kind of truth!

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading the first chapter of Arpeggio of Steel! Reviews, comments, or feedback would really be appreciated. Now, there are a few things that I want to clear up about this story:**

 **I) This is technically a 'Self-Insert' story, although I've exaggerated Raiden's personality a great deal. This includes both good qualities and bad ones. However, I have no intentions of Gary Stu-ing my way through the story. I personally feel that is a trap that a lot of good writers fall into when they are writing self-insert stories.**

 **II) I have altered the canon a great deal by bringing not only Raiden into SAO, but also Sinon. She's going to be in the story later on. However, I will try to keep the characters, and as much of the SAO Aincrad Arc, as canon as possible. So don't expect Raiden to be the Master Chief who simply walks through enemies and challenges like they're nothing and has Superman-like abilities. I'll try to keep that from happening.**

 **III) Sinon's in the story?! Yeah. She is. She'll make her appearance in due time.**

 **IV) I plan to write this story until I reach the end of the Aincrad arc. I might continue into the ALO arc. Emphasis on *might*.**

 **V) This story is written from the first-person perspective. This means that there will be a lot of introspection, as Raiden chooses his words carefully before speaking. Also, SAO is one of those times where it pays to be the 'Strong, Silent Type.'**

 **For now, I believe that's all that I have to clarify. So, thanks for reading! I had a great deal of fun writing this, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it! Look forward to additional chapters of Arpeggio of Steel! Thanks, one and all,**

 **-CossackSabre**


	2. Cloak and Blade

**Chapter 2: Cloak and Blade**

 _November 18th, 2022._

 _Asuna..._

 _Somewhere in the First Floor of Aincrad..._

The concussive roar shook the walls of the cave, and I could only see the faintest flash of scarlet as my opponent's strike easily found its mark. Its two red eyes, those of a hunter that had cornered its quarry, watched me intently as I was flung through the air and impacted the rock wall several feet away.

My blade clattered to the ground and slid out of my reach. What little sunlight that filtered in through the pitch darkness of the cave caught the narrow silver edge and taunted me with its argent luster as the creature, a Ruin Kobold Sentinel, bellowed victoriously at the prospect of an easy kill. I had not dealt so much as a single scratch to the creature, in fact, I had only recognized the danger a fraction of a second before it struck.

Most of my health was gone, and only a crimson sliver remained in the corner of the bar that rested at the edge of my field of vision. Worst of all, I could no longer move. My breaths came in hollow, winded inhalations, and even the small motion of raising my head to at least catch a glimpse of my executioner was a fight. An alarm's piercing call filled my ears; a warning that my health had depleted into the red zone, and was nearly gone. All of this, from _one strike._

 _Am I going to die? Is this how this death game ends for me?_

The hood of my maroon cloak hung low, intruding upon my field of view, but I was still allowed one chance sight of the creature that stood before me. The Ruin Kobold Sentinel, as the game so readily identified, was a towering brute of a creature. Its foul breath pooled and hung low above the damp floor of the cave, and its tongue hung freely from its maw, as though it were some kind of rabid monstrosity. The terrible club that it held in its grasp seemed to perpetuate this image, and I now had firsthand knowledge of the danger of such a weapon.

With the Sentinel staggering forwards to deal one final strike to its fallen foe, I felt tears begin to fall. My mind flashed back to the prior events of the day, and of what was quite possibly my last day inside Aincrad.

 _Earlier…_

I jolted awake suddenly, wrenched from my nightmare in a cold sweat. It was an old, and terrible dream, and one that I knew well. It had haunted my sleep every night since I had become trapped inside this game. Of how a day that had seemed so normal at the time had turned into a nightmare; of how this game, that had appeared innocent enough, had become a deathtrap. I shook my head, desperately attempting to remove the thoughts from my head before they could take root.

Early morning sunlight filtered in through the windows of the room inside the inn that I found my place of residency for the night. The scene looked almost too detailed to be real, right down to the slight warmth of the light and the minute sway of the white curtains. Even the smallest variation in the spectrum of light that played off of the edge of the rapier that rested against the dark stained wood of the windowsill looked as though it were an authentic sight, rather than the creation of a sociopathic murderer.

I reached out and, with a single motion of my index finger, opened a screen before me that displayed the current date and time. _Saturday, November 18_ _th_ _, 2022,_ I read to myself. I narrowly remembered that, in the real world, outside of this hellish nightmare, I had an exam to take. Now, though, the matter seemed mundane, especially when compared to the consequences of this world. As I collected my cloak and blade, I recalled the events from the days gone by.

Twelve days ago, the world for the ten-thousand players that found themselves the inhabitants of Sword Art Online was forever changed. Twelve days ago, Akihiko Kayaba caught those ten-thousand players in his electronic snare, and the only way to escape this game was to defeat it. Even in statement, the prospect sounded insane.

To attempt to clear all one-hundred floors of a game that had some of the most advanced artificial intelligence that the world had yet seen seemed impossible. Even for all their experience, during the beta test, most players could not so much as reach the _tenth_ floor, let alone the hundredth. But this was supposedly the only way to escape from this game, and, if I were to ever return to the real world, I would have to abide by this madman's rules. I had overheard talks of rescue from the outside many times, though I presumed that any rescue would have come long before now.

I walked down the staircase that led from my room, the wooden steps groaning with each footfall.

"Have a good day," the NPC at the desk bade, a friendly enough smile on the simulated face.

As I opened the door to the outside, a small bell hung in the corner of the doorsill rung. I turned and nodded my head cordially to the NPC before pulling my hood securely over my head and venturing outside.

The scene outside of the inn was vibrant, with other players flowing in both directions in an endless stream. Some walked in pairs, exchanging dialogue of various tones and cadences, while others walked alone and with purpose as they headed to their various destinations. I felt a pang of hunger, and sighed as I realized that this meant that I would have to head to the marketplace, which was a good deal away from the inn.

The market was a crowded place, and it seemed as though every single person that had passed in front of the inn had decided that they too needed to stop by. There was a multitude of stores, each selling various wares, and there was also an open space that had a series of tables.

If possible, the market was louder than than the streets, and it seemed as though the players, and, consequently, the NPCs, had very little voice control. In essence, the sheer volume was enough to give someone a splitting headache.

I hastily approached one of the venders and purchased an item known as black bread. The 'food' was very cheap, though it seemed you got what you paid for when it cost only a single col. I rested on a staircase not too far away, and attempted to stomach the food.

The loaf was, while fairly large, very tough and almost bitter in taste. The occasional passerby walked before me, and interrupted my view of the marketplace as I sat and tore off small pieces of the bread. I wondered why, of all things, Kayaba had to put _hunger_ in a game. Seriously, the decision seemed maniacal, and that should have been the first indication that he was insane.

Not only that, but he lacked even the human decency of putting _good_ food at in this area of the game. I was certain that, on the higher floors, there would be better food, but the first floor's black bread was simply godawful.

Part of me wondered if I would live long enough to even reach a floor that had decent food, and another part pondered if I would ever taste _real_ food again. Funny, how even the smallest things that you took for granted seemed so absolutely special when they were gone.

A slight breeze flowed through the streets of the town, and I felt it catch within the contrary face of my cloak's hood, and I saw the faintest flash of my chestnut hair at the corner of my vision.

"…A hidden log out location?"

I overheard those few words from a voice not too far away. The words had come from one of a number of players seated at a table a few feet away, and, after listening intently for a moment, I managed to pick out the origin of the voice. I began to walk towards the table as they continued to speak.

"It's just another false rumor, obviously," one of the players said.

"No, I hear this one comes from the Rat herself."

"Really? So, it's supposed to be in the forest to the west?"

"Yeah, apparently there's a cave way back in the forest, and that's supposed to be the place."

"And no one who's gone there has returned, so what does that tell you?"

"I think they were all killed by monsters-"

Before he could finish, I abruptly interjected,

"Excuse me! The forest to the west, where is it?" I asked.

The two players, stunned slightly by my sudden intrusion, were silent for a moment until one responded,

"…Just where you'd think, to the west. If you head that way, it should probably take about an hour and change to reach it."

"Thank you," I said, turning swiftly.

Before I could leave, however, the other player spoke up,

"You know that you need to be about level three around there, right?" He, apparently taking my silence as an answer to the negative, continued to speak, "If you're one of those people who are waiting for help from outside, there's really no need to rush. In a few days, we'll all be rescued."

"If rescue was coming, don't you think they would have done so as soon as people started dying?" I countered, my back still to the two players.

"What, you got urgent business in the real world?"

"Probably a sick family member, or something." the other player said in a low voice.

An exchange of silence passed between us, and I, having learned the location of the prospect of an early release from this prison, bade them farewell,

"Thank you for the warning, excuse me."

* * *

The forest was not difficult to find; though, as I exited the safe zone of the town, I could almost feel the danger precipitate around me. As I stared out into the gaping emerald maw of the forest to the west, I realized that I was only a single mistake away from becoming one of that great number of players who died in this game.

The sun now rested high in the vaulted, mediterranean-blue sky, though the deciduous lattice that formed the canopy of the many trees that stood before me negated much of the noon's light. Through narrow fissures here and there, the sunlight rained down in the form of javelins, and the forest stood silent, awaiting my challenge. Infrequently, I could hear creatures moving from within the forest, brushing and breaking branches, and I realized that stealth was my best option.

There was an abundance of cover, ranging from large bushes to the immense trunks of trees, and I hastily moved from one hide to another. The less time that I spent out in the open, the less of a chance that I could be spotted by the large denizens of the dark forest.

My progress through the trees that kept their vigil was swift and silent, and, while the scene around me was quite attractive, I never lingered in one place too long. All the while, as I dashed from cover to cover, I searched for the rumored cave. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, I located it.

Resting at the base of a complex of immense tree roots, the gaping mouth of the cave was irregular and dark. I could hardly see into the cave, and a cold rush of air constantly flowed out of it, whistling a ghastly sound all the while. Two stone pillars rested at either side of the mouth, and they appeared to have been well-worn with time, for they were cracked in many places and nearly consumed by the roots of the tree above.

 _"_ _This_ is the hidden log out spot?" I questioned. I began to doubt the validity of the rumors, and nearly turned away, though, if there was even the slightest chance that I could escape from this game, I was going to take it. And it was that singular chance, that hope that this was the one-in-a-million shot that the rumors were true, that compelled me into the cave. I steeled my resolve, and, my hand firmly clasped around the hilt of my rapier, I forged ahead.

The air within was foul, and the darkness palpable. The ground was unforgiving, and I lost my footing many times. Fortunately, the cave seemed to be void of inhabitants, and I wondered what the log out place would look like. It wasn't as though there was anyone in the game that could testify to its appearance.

The sound of what I presumed was water dripping echoed in the cave, the sound amplified in the darkness. It was only after a moment, after it was far too late, that I realized it wasn't water that was falling, but rather _saliva._ Heavy, laborious breaths of foul air flowed through the gaping maw of a monstrous creature that stood before me.

Standing at well over nine feet in height, it was covered with a thick and taut skin, and the creature had a long snout filled with ragged and cruel teeth. I hardly had time to read the name that appeared above the creature before it moved with rabid ferocity.

A concussive roar from the monster threatening to shatter my eardrums, the Sentinel reared backwards and raised a club of crude manufacture. Before I could so much as draw my own sword, the strike landed. I was flung through the air, and watched the two hungry red eyes of the creature tumble through my vision as I fell. My sword, my only means of defense, clattered to the ground before me and slid out of my reach.

The sudden impact upon the rock face was winding, and I fell to the ground and could not even stagger to my feet. My health plummeted rapidly, and the sound of an electronic alarm began to call within my ear. I was now tethered to this world by only the smallest corner of scarlet health.

And I was helpless as the Ruin Kobold Sentinel marched forwards, something akin to disappointment flashing behind its rabid gaze. It appeared almost _displeased_ that its prey had fallen with a single strike.

My hands grabbed fistfuls of the ground tightly in anger, and I clenched my teeth. A strange mixture of both anger and fright flowed within me. I was furious with myself that I was not strong enough to kill this single creature, and that I had been all-but-defeated after only one attack.

The creature raised its club high over its head, intent on finishing me off for good, and I could only close my eyes and wait.

But the strike never came.

I heard the sound of a sword being drawn and heard the metal rip through simulated flesh, and I opened my eyes to see a faint outline shift behind the Ruin Kobold Sentinel as a sword, glowing a bright sky-blue, ripped downwards through the creature.

The battle was over as quickly as it had started. In a frenzy of slashes, the Sentinel was torn to pieces, and was unable to so much as utter a small roar in surprise or anger. After one final attack, the creature staggered backwards and then froze before breaking into glass-like shards.

I heard footsteps, and saw a faint pair of black armored boots fall in front of my vision.

"It's over." An apathetic voice, a male's, said, though the tone sounded with something akin to disappointment, almost as though the swordsman was surprised that the fight was already over.

"Hey, nice work, Rai!" another voice, this one female, chirped.

I heard a discontented sigh from the first player,

"If the fight didn't last a total of three seconds, I might actually consider that a legitimate compliment. I appreciate the thought, though. And don't call me that…"

I heard a chuckle from the other player,

"Gotta say, I really don't like people spreading rumors under my name." she said.

"Being an informant's a tough job."

The female player, clad in clothing not much different from my own, knelt down,

"Is our newbie here still alive?" she asked. I felt her stare upon me for a second, "Good! She's still kicking. Here, drink this healing potion," she said, extending a glass bottle covered with interesting designs on it to me.

"Right, then I'm gone. Consider us even," the swordsman said.

"Not by a long shot," the girl said, a smirk evident upon her face.

After a few moments, I took a drink of the healing potion, and found that it was actually quite sweet.

"Also," the first player said, "Don't forget about the other thing,"

"I know, I know," the girl said, waving him away dismissively.

* * *

Now outside the cave, and my back resting against a large rock underneath the shade of a tree, I gazed up at my health bar, which now rested well within the green zone thanks to the health potion. I sighed in relief, relieved that I had eluded the grasp of death, if only very narrowly.

"You alright now?" the girl from before asked. She had seated herself upon the rock behind me in a rather peculiar fashion.

"Yes, thank you." I said, my eyes still unwavering from my health bar. Part of me was afraid that it would deplete if I took my eyes off of it for too long.

"The other player," I said, "He called you an informant…" my voice trailed slightly.

I heard a small sound of surprise from behind me, and then I got my response,

"It's exactly what you'd think." the girl said. I could tell from her face that there was some form of pleased expression upon her face as she talked, "It's a job of getting and selling intelligence. I gather all kinds of info, and then sell it at a reasonable price. If someone stands to benefit, then I spread it, but if not, then I bury it forever."

I nodded in understanding. The fact that people in this game could actually make a living just by selling what amounted to little more than rumors was somewhat surprising, though.

"By the way," the informant said, "What I just told you costs ten col," she said, a devious smirk shining proudly from the shade of the tree.

I chuckled slightly at how seriously this informant took her business.

"This is a game, but it feels like reality…" I mused.

"You could argue that this game _is_ our reality." The informant said. The way that she spoke was direct and straight to the point, as though she were charging me for every word that she said, and therefore wanted to keep her sentences as abrupt as possible.

"Miss Informant," I said, "Those rumors about a hidden log out spot, they weren't true, were they?" I asked. Though I had phrased the thought in the form of a question, I knew the answer already.

"Sorry…there's no such thing." She responded. I felt my hand clench somewhat at the response.

A dry and small wind flowed through the forest, spurring the branches of the trees to an action that was so minute, if you did not pay careful attention, you would miss it.

"In that case," I said, "Please tell me something…"

The wind died as I finished my statement,

"I want to know how to become stronger."

The informant tugged at a piece of her auburn hair,

"Is that in order to survive longer?" she countered.

"No," I said, faintly recalling the silhouette of that first player as he turned to leave the cave. How he almost seemed displeased that the fight with the Ruin Kobold Sentinel had lasted for such a short duration, when that same enemy had nearly killed me with a single strike.

"It's so that I don't have to regret anything again."

The informant smiled slightly,

"Hmm," she said, "Then you'll want this,"

I heard the sound of a menu being opened, and suddenly found a screen appear before me. It was an offer to accept an item, and had a both a blue circle button and a red x button. I touched the circle button, and a book materialized into my hands.

The motif was rather blank, save for a few lines of, shall we say…interesting text. _SAO Strategy Guide,_ _1_ _F. Field Area,_ rested in large angular letters, and beneath that, there was a small phrase written in italicized text, _Don't_ _W_ _orry,_ _T_ _his is Argo's Field Guide._

"It's the strategy guide that I wrote for this floor," the informant, whose name was apparently Argo, said. "Think of it as a reference manual, and I'll make it free, just for you," she added.

It wasn't exactly what I had expected when I asked for knowledge on how to become stronger; in fact, I had expected Argo to mutter some poignantly vague expression, but this guidebook was a start.

I hastily flipped through the pages, my eyes feverishly scanning each line of text and image. The book was surprisingly well-indexed, and included clear and concise information about the basic mechanics of this game, as well as an abundance of intelligence about the creatures located on this floor. And then I reached the section that I was actually looking for: the information on weaponry.

"My sword is narrow–so I want…" I thumbed through the pages, "This entry. Rapiers. The attacks aren't that different from fencing. The starting skill is Linear. The strike is primarily localized around the tip of the sword…" I said as I drew the blade at my side.

Holding my breath, I aimed the blade at nothing in particular, and heard the whine of a sword skill being charged. In an instant, the blade ripped through the air with incredible speed; I had learned a fundamental skill necessary for survival in this game.

"It worked…" I said. Something about the speed and balance of the rapier came naturally to me, and this class of sword seemed almost tailored to me. I found it slightly humorous that a fantasy game had skills that basically amounted to glorified fencing maneuvers.

As I turned, I was met with what could be described as an astounded Argo. She shook her head, hastily regaining her composure, before that mischievous look crossed her face,

"I take back what I said, that book's no longer free. As my fee, I demand that you tell me your name!" she said. I had seen the imaginary lightbulb flash inside her mind; she knew that she could sell this information to someone.

"My name," I repeated, almost hesitant to answer her question. I paused, slightly unsure of how to respond; after all, my player name was the same as my actual name.

"Asuna, Asuna Yuuki."

"Whoa, whoa!" Argo said, recoiling suddenly and waving her hands dismissively, "I meant your player name, not your _actual_ name!" She said.

After a moment, I explained my predicament, and she nodded understandingly,

"I see, well, I'll just have to forget that piece of info. Anyways, from here on out, if someone mentions your name, they mean your _player_ name." Argo delineated.

I had turned away from Argo, who was still somehow perched upon that same rock, and looked down at the gleaming sword in my hand.

"Hey, Miss Informant," I said, my gaze still focused upon the rapier's blade.

"Hm?"

"…Do you suppose that I'll be able to defeat that monster from earlier?"

* * *

 _December 2nd, 2022._

The sound of battle rung out in through the arched hallways of the dungeon. The halls were long and straight, and lit by rows of burning torches; the crimson flickers from the flames played across the neatly-arranged stones of the floor, which were polished to a near-mirror sheen.

With a flourish of steel, the Kobold before me staggered and clattered to the ground, its great clawed hand clutching at the site of a mortal wound. As it fell, it broke apart into the shards that had become all but mundane. I stood, my blade still extended from that final strike, as I breathed slowly. Each simulated inhalation was a testament to my own survival, and let me know that I wasn't dead yet.

 _How many days have passed since I entered this labyrinth?_ I wondered as I walked through a doorway surrounded by riveted bannisters of steel. It had been the last thing that the Kobold Sentinel had known before its defeat. Each step that I took into this new area was heavy, and my legs shook slightly.

 _Here, I'm free from physical fatigue, but my mind still becomes weary… Even my_ _concentration_ _seem_ _s_ _to fade at times…_ I thought as I fell to my knees, supporting myself with the rapier that reflected the torchlight.

 _And what happens when your concentration fades in the most dangerous area of a dungeon that's nothing but filled with monsters?_ I asked myself rhetorically, staring out at the dismal scene before me.

 _This does, of course._

The hallway behind me had led to a large, open room. The ceiling here was much higher, and stone pillars stood in many places around the room. The room was filled with a small regiment of Kobold Sentinels, each wearing that same hungry expression that the one from all those weeks ago had, and their weapons varied from crude swords to brutish axes.

I clenched my teeth in annoyance,

 _Doesn't look like I can escape this ambush…_

In this particular room, in this particular dungeon, the game had restricted all of my other options, save for one: fight. And so I did.

Rushed at once by several of the Sentinels, I ducked and dodged their strikes, while retaliating when I could. Staying in one location was suicide, and so I was forced to move as quickly as possible, and search for whatever opportunity there was for counterattack.

Eventually, one of the Sentinels that had far less health than the others swung with its great axe. I managed to evade underneath the strike and, charging a sword skill as I moved, ran the creature through with the gleaming blade.

The creature stood in what I assumed was stunned silence, and fell to the ground. I had only enough time to think about moving before a punishing attack came from behind. I heard my fallen opponent break apart as I was flung through the air, and I noticed an all-too-familiar icon appear next to my health bar.

 _A stun effect…_ I thought, falling to the ground before the remaining Kobolds. Several thoughts rushed through my mind at once; but I knew that, if this was the end, then at least I had pushed myself and fought as hard as I could.

Until I heard the whine of a sword skill from behind me. Several of the monsters angled their heads in confusion, and a dark shadow roared past me. I saw a brilliant flash of that same sky-blue from before, and the two Sentinels that were closest to me were bisected instantly.

The narrow, curved blade of a saber came to rest in my view, and it was the same one that I had seen from before. The hilt was curved, and a metal guard rested around the black gloves of its wielder's hand.

 _Who…?_ I wondered, the same figure silhouetted by the glowing shards of the two fallen monsters. _I don't even know this guy…_

"You know," the swordsman said, glancing over his shoulder slightly, "We really should stop meeting like this."

"…Mind your own business!"

"Just saying." he said with a shrug, "If you keep this up, you're going to die–"

"We're all going to die!" I said, allowing every bit of my anger to supercharge my voice, "It's just a matter of where and when in this game!"

I lowered my head slightly,

"So let me fight to my heart's content, so that I can at least die satisfied…"

"I'm not saying that you can't fight and fight all you want. If you want to die, that's fine by me, but at least leave me your map data first. It'd be a shame to let that go to waste; you can die after that, if you're so inclined."

I noticed that the stun effect had worn off, and I managed to raise myself upwards, resting once again upon my blade. The motion was laborious, but I somehow forced myself to my beleaguered feet once again.

"That's the spirit," the swordsman said. His voice was well-steeped in sarcasm, though it seemed to wear off in that brief instant.

The Kobold Sentinels had regrouped around us, and we were now completely surrounded.

"You watch my back," he said, his voice suddenly serious, "We attack together!"

"Don't order me around!"

 _Who does he think he is? Sheesh!_

I watched as he turned his gaze towards the Kobold legion before him.

"Finally, a real fight…" he muttered as a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. He then began to count down from three, and, when he reached one, the two of us raced outwards to meet our opponents.

Spurred onwards by my close brush with death once more, I found that my strikes were incredibly precise and fierce. This iron rapier, though it was a low-leveled weapon, made incredibly quick work of my enemies as I tore through the Kobolds with fierce chains of sword skills.

The air was stained heavily with iridescent shards, and the room was soon filled with the sound of shattering glass as previous denizens of the room fell about me. I heard the clash of metal-upon-metal behind me, and I turned to see the swordsman, his saber locked with the last Kobold's axe.

"There's a window for escape, go!" he called, his shoulders heaving underneath the weight of the hostile edge.

I tried to move, but my gaze was heavy, and my feet were no longer my own.

"Hello, anyone home, Miss Fencer?!" he shouted. I felt his gaze upon me, and heard an incredulous breath,

"Y-you killed them all?!" he muttered, his gray eyes wide, before turning and hastily making quick work of the last remaining Kobold. As the last enemy broke apart, I felt my eyes become incredibly heavy, and the last thing I heard was my own blade falling to the ground before my vision went black.

I opened my eyes to the canopy of the forest that resided outside the dungeon. It was a scene that I had doubted I would ever see again. Afternoon sunlight rained downwards through the spaces between the sage leaves, and I realized that I was alone, for the most part.

Resting against the trunk of a tree was the swordsman from before. He clutched tightly to his now-sheathed saber, as though he were attempting to ready himself for an attack, even while asleep. He seemed to recognize my gaze, as he awoke after a few moments.

"Afternoon, Miss-" he began,

"Why?" I interrupted, "Why didn't you leave me behind back there?"

He chuckled, "Like I said, you're free to pursue your grandiose death all you like, but I want that map data first." He said, before shrugging his shoulders, "Of course, there are ways to bypass that when the other person's asleep…"

The swordsman narrowly had enough time to scream and duck underneath my own blade.

"What did you do?!" I roared, the swordsman shrieking and shrinking away, his face an incredible shade of white as I leveled my rapier with his head.

"N-nothing! Nothing! Nothing at all! God in heaven, I swear I did nothing!"

"Y-you liar!" I accused, "You used that map data as an excuse! An excuse to…" the mental image my mind conjured was almost too much to bear, "To do things! Like things! _Things!"_

 _"No way! It's a bum rap!"_ the swordsman furiously declared, backpedalling against the tree behind him. He was cornered, and there was nowhere left for him to cower.

 _"Draw your blade, you bastard!"_ I challenged.

Just as I drew my blade backwards, a sword skill already whining, the sudden horrible sound of my own stomach growling narrowly spared his life. I hung my head, unable to even look the swordsman,

 _Stupid game! Stupid game! Stupid game!_

The cackles of the saber-user filled the air, and I could no longer summon the strength to impale him with my sword for embarrassment.

"You might want to consider eating something. I hear that duels can be quite hard on an empty stomach, anyways," he said.

"I don't need it, it's not like I'm going to die from lack of food in this game!"

"Well," he said, some annoyingly smug expression upon his face, "Maybe you can think of it as an exchange for your map data." The swordsman uttered those last two words hastily, lest he find himself at the edge of my blade again.

He opened his menu and, after scrolling through many items, finally tapped on one. A loaf of that same bread materialized in his hands, and he extended it to me. I took the loaf of bread reluctantly.

"Plus, you can't say that your passing out wasn't due to a lack of food. If you're going to push yourself to fight, then you should at least do it on a full stomach. At least, that's my personal philosophy, especially when the food is this tasty."

I would have done a spit-take if possible at that last statement. He was calling that black bread from the marketplace _tasty?_ Now I was starting to doubt his sense of taste, as well as his sanity.

"Is your NerveGear working properly?" I asked, "You think _this,_ " I pointed to the loaf, "tastes _good?"_

"By itself? God no! All you've got to do is change things up a bit. A paradigm shift, of sorts," he said, extending a small jar to me. I opened the container and carefully applied the condiment inside upon the bread,

"Cream?" I asked.

"Trust me, it makes that bread ten times better."

Hesitantly, I steeled myself and took a single bite of the bread. In a word, it was wonderful. It wasn't just good in comparison to SAO's standards, it actually tasted _good!_ Hastily, the rest of the loaf vanished.

"Want another?" the swordsman asked.

"I'll pass," I said, standing to my feet. "I didn't make it this far in this game just to eat good food."

"Why did you, then?"

"So that I can be myself. If I was going to stay and cower inside that first city, and waste away into nothing until the end of the game, then I would rather fight with all of my might, and become stronger. And then-"

"You can 'die satisfied?'"

I paused, not expecting the sudden interjection,

"I mean, it's a hundred floors, and after two months of playing, we haven't even beaten one! Do you know how many people have died in that time? Two thousand! It's impossible..." I said, my voice trailing, "We're never going home."

The wind whistled through the forest, and I saw the swordsman's lips move slightly as a softly-spoken phrase that sounded a lot like an apology was hastily borne away. Silence passed between the two of us,

"Did you just…?" I asked.

Before he could answer, the deep toll of a bell sounded in the distance.

"A bell?"

The swordsman rose to his feet.

"That's from the town, Tolbana's close by."

The third and final toll rung thunderously across the forest, and as its brazen knell died away, the swordsman spoke again,

"Three o'clock; it's almost time. Let's go." he said as he began to walk away.

"Go where?" I asked.

"There's a meeting being held in Tolbana. If you are bored of scrambling around dungeons and actually wish to reach the second floor, then I suggest you attend." he said, "It's time for the boss battle. Do you want to come?"

* * *

The town of Tolbana was a walled city that rested inside a valley. The structures were primarily comprised of stone, and both the swordsman and myself approached a large, lowered gate. As we passed by, an NPC bade us a machinated and well-rehearsed entrance into the town of Tolbana.

"Four o'clock, in the amphitheater," the swordsman said. Without so much as a parting word, he proceeded on ahead down the street. The only form of farewell was a singular wave of his hand as he walked away.

 _What's with him?_ I wondered, realizing that I did not so much as know his name.

"Curious?" I heard a voice ask from beside me.

"Argo?!" I asked, surprised to see the informant had materialized beside me out of thin air.

"You curious about him, Miss Fencer?" Argo repeated. "You know," she continued, not even allowing me the space to respond, "I hear you've become quite the hard worker; rumors of a red-hooded figure hunting mobs in the labyrinths day and night. Word gets around!"

"You've got it wrong, Argo," I said, "At least, about that player,"

"How so?" Argo asked, genuine intrigue burning behind her eyes.

"He only informed me about the raid meeting in this town, nothing more!"

"I see, I see…"

"Seriously, Argo, stop trying to pry and spread weird rumors!"

"But those sell the best!" the informant whined. After realizing that her jests were getting nowhere, her expression regained the slightest modicum of seriousness, "Okay, I get it."

"Anyway, Miss Informant," I said, "Do you even have information about him?"

That same devious expression crossed her face yet again,

"On him? Of course I do…and perhaps I'd be willing to part from it for the right price. But you must realize that, if you buy this information from me, the transaction becomes a product for me to sell. You still want to buy?"

"No thanks," I said, turning on my heels, "I have no interest, thank you very much!"

"Well, that's good to hear…" Argo murmured from beside me again. The unique talent that she had to materialize out of thin air was beginning to creep me out, and, as quickly as she had appeared, she too vanish into the steady flow of people that ran through this particular street of Tolbana.

 _How does she do that?_ I wondered.

The remnant of the hour marched onwards with incredible speed, and, with the fourth toll of the bell ringing across the grassy plains that surrounded Tolbana, I found myself walking towards the amphitheater.

The pathway that led to the structure was beset by rows of well-worn columns on either side that then curved around the form of the amphitheater. They stood tall like rows of marble soldiers locked in some form of perpetual attention.

I stood at the top of a staircase that led down to rows of seats that appeared to be made of a very similar material as the columns. A great deal of people had already taken their seats, some of them cordially chatting away with friends and comrades, while others sat alone and looking ahead at the stage with intent.

At one corner, I noticed a player outfitted with mostly black clothes. A long, straight sword rested sheathed upon his back, and he gazed at the stage with purpose from underneath an unkempt shock of black hair. The serious expression on his face was somewhat unnerving.

 _Wow…_ I thought, taking in the sight of the sheer amount of players that had gathered out, _Look at all these people, knowing they could die in the attempt…_

"You're so earnest, Miss Fencer," I heard a fractious voice from beside me say.

The swordsman from before stood tall, having propped himself up against a stone next to me.

"I can tell what you're thinking from that awe-inspired look on your face…" His steel gaze flashed to me from the corner of his eyes as he continued to speak, and shifted to rest his right hand upon the hilt of the saber at his side, "You really think they're all doing this out of the good of their own hearts?"

A small smirk formed on his face, though he quickly spoke after noticing my annoyed glare,

"I'm not saying that there aren't _any_ good motives here, I just think that most of these players are misguided."

"Misguided?"

"They think there's no life for them if they get left behind." the swordsman stated, starting ahead at the assembled crowd before us.

"Left behind what?"

"Behind the frontier. Sure, the idea of dying is scary, but so is the idea of that the boss is being defeated without them. I feel the same way," he added with a shrug.

"I see…" I said, "It's like that same motivation that you need to stay at the top of your class, isn't it?"

"Wha-" For once, the saber-user seemed genuinely surprised. After a moment to collect his thoughts, he nodded his head, "I guess it's something similar."

A sudden clap sounded out through the open air of the theater, and all eyes fell upon the single man that stood at the stage. He had hair that was a strange color of blue, and a sword slung at his side. His armor appeared to be of a fair level, as well.

"I want to thank you all for answering my call here, today!" he said. It was clear that he seemed fairly comfortable speaking in front of an audience. "As of now, you all are the best that SAO has to offer!"

As he continued to speak, I realized that I was not so different from these players after all. They, just as I had been, were chased into a corner by something that you couldn't see, and couldn't escape from. You had to scramble and attempt to find a goal and strike back against it before you were consumed.

But for me, in this instant, my goal was very clearly defined: to clear the first floor of Sword Art Online, to take the first step towards liberation; and, until we clear all one-hundred floors, I strike faster, and fly swifter, than any other in this game!

* * *

 **Hey, Reader, thanks for checking out the second chapter of Arpeggio of Steel! As always, your reviews are appreciated (as are the favorites and follows)!**

 **So, in case you didn't read the little blurb before the story, this chapter was from Asuna's perspective, and I felt that it would be interesting to delve into another person's POV this early on in the game. The next chapter should return to Raiden's POV, though.**

 **Also, there may have been a bit of an unexpected hiatus between the first and second chapters... I became very busy with college work and whatnot. I don't expect that should happen again, but I appreciate all of you who followed, favorited, and reviewed during that time!**

 **As always; Thanks, one and all!**

 **–CossackSabre**


	3. The First Raid

**Chapter 3: 'Para Bellum'**

 _December 2nd, 2022._

 _Si vis pacem, para bellum; "If you want peace, prepare for war." – Renatus_

 _One month has passed since the beginning of this death game–in that time, two-thousand of the original ten-thousand players are now dead; and yet, not one person has so much as set foot on the second floor of Aincrad. Even for my own beta-testing experience, I have not so much as entered the boss' dungeon. But today, in the town of Tolbana, there is a meeting that could very well change that…_

 _Raiden…_

"Thank you all for heeding my call, today!"

The introduction rang out through the stone structures of Tolbana's amphitheater loud and clear. The words were spoken by a player that stood alone upon the center stage. His posture was self-assured, and his voice betrayed that he was a person that knew how to address an audience. His hair was a strange color of blue, which was rare in this game, though I could have sworn that I had seen another player with icy-blue hair heading towards the meeting a few minutes ago…

The player that I knew as Miss Fencer and I had taken our seats near the edge of the theater's stone seats, which were admittedly less than comfortable.

"My name's Diabel," the player that stood before us all declared before comically beating his fist against his chestplate, "And I like to think of myself as playing a 'knight!'"

I heard chuckles from the audience around us, and I think even Miss Fencer was forced to stifle a small laugh,

"I bet you wanted to say you were playing as a hero!" someone called from the audience. Now assured that his gamble on lightening the tension that had hung in the air had worked, Diabel continued. As he spoke, I noticed a shadow shift next to one of the stone columns, and my gaze flashed in that direction only briefly. I was able to catch a glimpse of none other than Argo the Rat; I scoffed, bemused. She was probably only here to find snoop around and find something to sell; if there was a dollar–or col, rather–to be made, then Argo would surely turn up. She waved to me, and Diabel spoke once again.

"Today, my party found the first floor's boss room!" he declared. He spoke with impressive hand gestures emphasizing the most rousing parts of his sentences, "The time has now come for us to defeat the boss and reach the second floor!"

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened and his tone became far more serious,

"It may have taken us a month, but today is the day that we can show the players of SAO that we _can_ one day beat this game of death…Is that not the duty of all the higher-leveled players here?!"

His words galvanized those around us. Many of them voiced their agreements, roused by Diabel's words. I noticed that even the reserved Miss Fencer nodded her head repeatedly in silent accord with Diabel. As much as it surprised me, I had to admit that this Diabel could deliver a riveting speech.

"Hang on just a second, 'Sir Knight,'" called a voice from one of the staircases of the amphitheater. Hostility dripped from every word that was spoken by this other player.

 _Here we go…_ I thought, resting my head upon my hand.

A man of very small stature, whose appearance was not unlike that of a hedgehog, stomped down the staircase and stood before Diabel. The height difference was hilarious–the hedgehog had to crane his neck upwards to even meet Diabel's gaze.

"Now wait just a second, there's something I have to get off of my chest before we all start playing like we're pals or something…" the challenging player growled.

Diabel, unfazed by the new arrival, merely put on a welcoming smile,

"What's on your mind, friend? Other opinions are always welcome, but I'd ask that you introduce yourself first."

"Hmph. The name's Kiabou, and this is something that's gone without saying for far too long." the player said, before he inhaled deeply. He turned away from Diabel and faced the audience, "C'mon you cowardly beta testers! Show yourselves!" he roared.

"I know there's at least five or ten of you here!" he growled, his head shifting from left to right, and scanning over the audience. I felt my fist clench in sheer annoyance at this idiot. He was going to turn the players against themselves, right before the first boss fight of the game of all times...

"You owe an apology to the two-thousand people who have already died, because you were too busy hogging everything to yourselves! Now get on your hands and knees and apologize!"

The reaction varied among the players, some (most likely those that stood to benefit) were obviously in agreement, while others merely scoffed in response. I felt my grasp tighten around the sword at my side. This boss raid would go nowhere if the players were divided against themselves, a basic tenet of combat was to have unity among the troops. Discord, plainly, meant death.

Thankfully, another player raised his voice,

"May I speak?" The words were cool, confident, and spoken in a very low tone.

A massive figure loomed behind Kiabou, one taller than even Diabel. This other player was easily over six feet tall, and a dark-skinned man; an intimidating axe hung from his back, and, from his immense build, I knew he could wield the weapon with ease.

"Kiabou, correct? My name is Agil. Now, you're saying that, because the beta-testers did not help the new players, many of the newcomers died, and that the beta-testers should be forced to pay reparations for those that died, right?" Agil said, slowly advancing towards Kiabou as he spoke.

"Y-yeah! The day this deathtrap started, they left the new players who didn't know left from right in the dust!" Kiabou said, frantic anger staining his voice.

I had to give credit to the hedgehog, he didn't shrink away from Agil, but instead managed to hold his ground. However, the closer Agil got, the more alarmed Kiabou's face became–it was evident that he felt threatened by the much taller player. I chuckled, Kiabou was literally standing in the Shadow of the Colossus. Somehow, though, the hedgehog continued to find his voice,

"Those beta-testers were only motivated by their greed, and the second the game started, they went right from the Town of Beginnings and began to pursue their own selfish motives." he paused for a moment before meeting Agil's gaze, "You know anyone who fits the bill?"

"And how are the beta-testers responsible for the newcomers' deaths?" Agil asked, ignoring the inquisition.

"When they started grinding hogged all the best hunting grounds and quests, they kept the beginners from good leveling spots, so they had to venture into dangerous zones and wound up dead…"

Did they not know that most of the deaths the game had suffered thus far were beta-testers themselves? I held my head low, my clenched fist resting upon my cheek, burdened by this knowledge. I considered revealing that simple fact, but I realized that, in doing so, I would most likely reveal that I myself was a beta-tester. I noticed the Fencer's gaze flash towards me for only a fraction of a second. Was that concern in her gaze? Before I could come to a conclusion, Agil spoke,

"That's true," Agil said before us, his clear voice resonating from the center-stage, "Resources in this type of game are limited. But consider this Kiabou, if you were one of those self-interested beta-testers, and you could monopolize only one thing, what would it be? The best hunting grounds, the lucrative quests?"

"…What's your point?"

Agil opened his menu and produced a book, Argo's guidebook, to be specific.

"I'd choose information. And yet, in every town that I've visited, I've noticed that this book has been available for free. I'd say that every one of us has made use of them at one time or another, correct?"

Wait, wait, wait…Did he just say _free?!_ I turned my furious gaze towards the place that I had seen Argo, who had somehow mysteriously disappeared.

"F-free?! That Rat! She charged me five-hundred col!" I angrily grumbled to myself, before resting a palm on my face and leaning backwards with an exacerbated groan. It didn't help that I saw Miss Fencer had an exact copy of the book that I had way overpaid for…My lamentation did not reach Agil's ears, though, and he continued to speak.

"Still…for a player-made guidebook, didn't anyone else think that this information became available a little _too_ quickly?" Agil continued. "I believe that the people who made this book are beta-testers who have been far beyond anything we've yet to experience in this game. Knowledge is power, and there was no better weapon that the beat-testers could have given the newcomers. Still yet, many players died."

I heard a disinterested sigh from beside me, and Miss Fencer rested her head upon her hands as well. She gazed at the debate before us with what could be described best as an apathetic stare, which was a great deal more than could be said for my own investment in the argument.

"This Kiabou's met his match," she breathed after a while. "You always find this sort of person, the ones who aren't satisfied with anything and want to drag everyone else down…"

"He doesn't realize that there's a role only front-runners can play." I said, "But I doubt that you can break people down into such categories easily." Ahead of us, I noticed that the derailing argument was finally beginning to close.

"Your point is well-taken, Kiabou," Diabel, who had stepped back from the two belligerents, said, "But isn't this the time to look forward? Keep in mind that the former testers have fought this type of enemy before. That being so, then what greater ally could we ask for? Now, if you don't mind, we should get back to the matters at hand," Diabel said, borrowing the guidebook from Agil. He thumbed through the pages quickly before his eyes widened as he lighted upon a certain page.

"Regarding information on the boss…it's all in here," he said, his voice trailing slightly and sounding somewhat surprised as his eyes scanned over the pages. He hid his astonishment well, but I had long since learned the defining features of a mask.

Spurred on by this development, many of the players around us began to produce their own guidebooks and flip through the pages until they found the section on the floor's boss. "But we just found the boss' chamber…How did the information get out so quickly?"

Had Argo been present, I knew the exact self-confident grin that she would have been so smugly wearing underneath that cloak of hers. It was a shame that she wouldn't get to see the uproar that her information had caused.

"You're right," Agil said, peering over Diabel's shoulder and scanning over the pages, "The boss' name, estimated HP, sword skills, attack damage, even accompanying mobs, it's all here…" Many of the players had risen from their seats and proceeded forwards to the stage, drawn like moths to a flame of knowledge.

"This is very useful," Diabel said, "Especially since the boss' stats aren't as dangerous as we predicted."

"Seems that way," Agil said, noticeably relieved.

"Hold up!" Kiabou called. I hadn't seen him in the crowd of people that now stood before the stage, though his voice more than made up for his lack of physical presence. He shifted through the players, and placed his finger upon the corner of one of the pages. I cast my gaze towards Miss Fencer's copy of the guidebook and read what I presumed to be the text that Kiabou had indicated to:

 _Warning! This information is from the SAO beta test, details may not match the current version of the game._

"I knew it!" he roared through gritted teeth, "She knows who the beta testers are in this game, and I bet she's one of them!" Spurred on by his words, the crowd began to turn to their witch-hunt mentality once more, and many of them began to mutter to themselves.

"Are we really going to trust intel from the beta-testers?"

"Yeah, after all, that Agil guy mentioned something about a monopoly on information, after all."

"I bet they left out the key pieces of intel for themselves!"

"If this came from the beta-testers, then they should stand at the front of the battle and prove that it's true!"

Among the conglomeration of players, I saw a figure dressed almost exclusively in black, Kirito perhaps, make his way through the crowd. I watched him a moment longer, and confirmed that it indeed _was_ Kirito. He had managed to survive this long in the death game; though his expression was grim and cold. I jumped to my feet and hastily proceeded into the crowd, Miss Fencer not far behind me as I made my way to my friend.

All around me, the accusations rose, and some eventually turned on Argo herself. I finally reached Kirito, and clasped a hand on his shoulder before he could potentially make the situation worse. He turned around hastily, and I watched a brief flash of surprise cross his fierce visage.

"Raiden?"

I nodded in confirmation. Before I could speak, another player shouted,

"Where did that Rat go?"

"She was just here, did she turn tail and leave?" another chided. It was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

"No!" Kirito shouted. The absolute anger in both his expression and face was shocking, a far cry from his usually-reserved and collected expression.

The full efficacy of Kiabou's words came screaming to fruition in those few minutes. The meeting had turned into a great mass of desperate players feverishly accusing one another of being former players in this game of death.

 _This is bad..._ I thought, _Right now, this entire meeting is nothing but one giant tinderbox._ I realized that it wouldn't be much longer before the entire gathering went up in flames.

"So tell me..." a single voice, standing clearly and with perfectly annunciated syllables juxtaposed against the sea of shouts and trepidation. Immediately, I turned towards the source,

 _Miss Fencer?!_

"What do you propose that we do, other than simply be grateful for what information that we _do_ have?" she continued.

All eyes fell upon the cloaked girl as her words died away in the amphitheater. The stunned silence that followed was all-consuming, and each second passed in an individual eternity. Astonishment at the prospect of a female player in Aincrad was evident, and it was entertaining to watch. The instant the players around us realized who had spoken, their eyes became as wide as dinner plates. Even under such public scrutiny, Miss Fencer remained unfazed and unflinching, a bastion of reason in a sea of madness.

"She's right," Diabel called, "Our enemies are not the beta-testers, it's the floor boss!" He held the guidebook to where his audience could see it clearly, "Let's be thankful for this intel."

"Besides, it'll save us from having to do reconnaissance missions…" Agil added.

"Right, and we might–no, we _will_ complete this raid without any casualties!" Diabel confidently added. "Even if there is any misinformation in the guidebook, I will take it upon myself to protect you; this I swear on my pride as a knight!"

Finally, reason returned to the masses, and they began to slowly come to their senses. Diabel's logical appeal was well-taken, and thankfully received. The crowd certainly seemed to gorge themselves upon his bolstering words.

"All right, I think it's time to start planning. First, we need to form a proper raid party. To do so, you'll each need to break off into groups of six!" the Knight added.

And, in an instant, I wanted to throw Diabel into the lowest pit of hell. Groups of _six?!_ I barely knew _three_ people in this game, four if you included myself! All around me, jubilant players who had already known each other were forming parties as quickly as the words could flow from their mouths. They accepted with cordial, singsong statements, and I could but watch and listen in horror. After a few moments, I noticed that Miss Fencer, Kirito, and myself were left standing in a void left between the other players who had already partied up; islands in a sea of integrated and fraternizing gamers.

"So," I said, my voice an annoyed sigh, "You guys got left out, too?" A death glare from Miss Fencer quickly caused me to rethink my wording, "Ah–of course, _you_ didn't…" I chuckled nervously, and sent a silent plea to Kirito for help.

"Why don't we team up? After all, it's nice to see you've managed to survive, Raiden." Kirito said.

"I might consider it…" the fencer said, "If one of you sends the invite."

I turned to look at Kirito, who shrugged in response. After opening my menu, I sent a party invite to both players. As Kirito depressed the accept button, another emerald health bar appeared below my own, his name displayed nearby. The same invitation appeared before Miss Fencer, though she hesitated slightly before she accepted,

"You were saying something before we arrived here; I couldn't hear it through the wind. If we both survive this battle, tell me again..."

"Fair enough," I said. With that confirmation, Miss Fencer accepted the invite. It was then that I finally learned her name, as it appeared next to her own health bar,

 _Asuna…_ I repeated in my mind, _that's an interesting name._

Diabel spoke before either Kirito or I could comment on Miss Fencer's player name;

"You three! You guys are your own party, right?" he called, walking over to us from the crowd.

"…Yeah," Kirito said.

"I hate to ask this of you, but do you think that you could back up the team handling the boss' Kobold guards?"

"I guess we don't have a choice, given that we don't have the numbers to form a full team…" Kirito said, obviously uncertain what to make of the self-proclaimed knight. It was somewhat humorous, watching someone as awkward as Kirito converse with someone as social as Diabel.

"Thanks for understanding," the Knight said. "I'm jealous somewhat, you two get to guard the princess, after all..." he added with a whisper to both Kirito and myself.

Instantly, the two of us shared a mortified gaze, and I knew we had both shared the same thought.

 _Oh god, did he just call_ her _a…princess?_

The death gaze from behind that sent shivers down my spine was confirmation enough that Asuna had indeed heard her unofficial title. Now, I wasn't so concerned about the boss anymore.

Kirito chuckled nervously before he spoke again–he felt the dark presence as well,

"I-it's an…important job." he managed to mumble, stumbling awkwardly through his words. It was a great deal more than I could achieve. Diabel nodded in agreement and headed away, a smug smile on his face.

"Well," the self-proclaimed knight called, having returned to center-stage, "That should about wrap it up. We tackle the boss at ten in the morning, and if anyone wants to stick around for team A's practice, feel free; other than that…meeting adjourned!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Asuna turned sharply on her heels, her cloak catching the wind slightly, and she began to walk away hastily.

"Aren't you going to stay for the practice?" Kirito called, turning after her.

"'An important job?'" Asuna repeated, "You've got to be kidding. We're just the basic henchmen killers; if we're not a big part of their team, then they should at least say so,"

"What else can we do?" I interjected, "There's only three of us. At best, we'd barely be able to switch in and allow the others to heal."

Kirito nodded in agreement, and continued to walk up the staircase after Asuna, only to run-face first into her. She had become as rigid as a statue and stopped in her tracks abruptly.

"Switch?" she asked, turning towards us slowly. The absolutely stunned expression that she wore on her face was indication enough–she had no idea what we were talking about.

"You _do_ know what a switch is, right?" Kirito said cautiously.

After a few moments of silence, both he and I shared a shocked glance.

"Well," I said, patting him on the back, "You can take care of this one,"

He rolled his eyes in response before turning back to Asuna,

"Tell you what, I'll explain the basics to you tonight, if you want-"

Asuna was suddenly spurred into motion by this statement,

"No." she abruptly declared.

"But it's a vital element of playing the game. You won't get far in this game otherwise." Kirito said, apparently ignoring her blatant refusal. She said nothing, but paused for a long while. Neither Kirito or I knew what to make of the scene, and Asuna, after performing some mental calculation, nodded her head before heading out into Tolbana.

"So…is that a yes?" Kirito asked.

"Masterfully worded, Shakespeare." I said, before yawning and stretching, "Man, all that sitting really takes it out of you,"

"Yeah, I'm sure. It seems to be all that you do, after all." Kirito said.

"It's energy efficiency." I countered, before pointing over my shoulder towards the streets of Tolbana, "Anyways, I'm going to head to a 'smith and see if I can't get this saber upgraded before the boss fight tomorrow. I'm sure you'll be busy chasing after Miss Fencer in that time, so how about I give you a head-start?"

Kirito's face immediately lit up with something akin to embarrassment and denial, and he fumbled for a response. I chuckled and punched his shoulder,

"Relax, I'm just messing with you."

"You really haven't changed at all," Kirito grumbled, "I'll see you around, Raiden. You might want to leave soon though, a lot of the blacksmiths get busy around this hour."

With that parting statement, Kirito headed up the staircase as well, and I was left alone in the amphitheater. Before I made my exous, though, I turned back towards the stage, having felt as though someone was watching me. I noticed Diabel's gaze quickly flicker away.

 _How long was he watching us?_ I wondered.

It was strange, to say the least. Nevertheless, I was more surprised to see that Kiabou was standing before Diabel, and appeared to be apologizing for his previous interruption. Diabel wore that same friendly and reassuring smile that he always seemed to wear, and shook the man's hand. I didn't think anything else of it as I began my search for a blacksmith.

* * *

With my sword now upgraded to the very limit of the 'safe' parameter, I aimlessly wandered through the streets of Tolbana. The sun had gone down some time ago, and the city now stood washed in the flickering, golden light of lanterns. Even though it was night, the town never truly felt dark; even the fountain that rested near Tolbana's square shone with cyan lambency.

My blade, thanks to a competent NPC blacksmith, now rested at a +4 upgrade. It could have been improved further, but after the first four upgrades, the chances of the sword breaking or permanently decreasing its parameters rose drastically. It was a gamble that I couldn't take, not on the eve of the first boss raid of the game, and most certainly not with the sword that I trusted my life to.

I found myself sitting amid the dark sage grass of the town square, slowly and absently eating a loaf of bread that I had bought from a market today. Diabel and Kiabou stood some feet away, their differences reconciled with laugher, merriment, and drink. As I watched the two players, I heard the faint footfall upon grass as someone approached from behind.

"Funny," Kirito said, "They'll never get drunk."

"Funny? A shame, that's what that is," I said. Kirito chuckled and knelt down beside me.

"True. You get your sword upgraded?"

"Plus four." I drew the blade slightly, the argent metal refracting the golden light of a nearby lantern momentarily.

"Nice," Kirito said, raising a small thumbs-up.

"And did you find Miss Fencer?" I said, returning the sword to its sheath.

Kirito nodded, "I started to explain the basics, but to actually put them into practice is another matter…"

"That is a good point. I wouldn't worry about her, though." I said, recalling the instance where she singlehandedly robbed me of all my kills and experience in a dungeon a few hours prior, "She's actually quite good with that rapier."

A somewhat burdened sigh escaped Kirito,

"That much I can tell…But I don't want a party member dying on me,"

I couldn't help but laugh at the response.

"If you're worried about me, all I've got are my reflexes. You don't need to worry about me."

Kirito frowned,

"That's the problem. _You_ don't seem to take it seriously enough, and perfectly content with dying."

"I think perfectly content and realizing one's mortality are different matters..."

"Look, I don't want a party member, or a friend, dying on me. So try not to get killed tomorrow, alright?"

"No promises." I said with a small smirk. I stood to my feet and stretched towards the darkened sky above, "Anyways, I'm gonna call it a day."

"See you at the raid, then." Kirito said.

I began to walk away, but turned to look over my shoulder after a few steps,

"Hey, how much do you think Argo would pay to know about you seeing Asuna in private, you sly dog?"

Kirito's face turned a hilarious shade of red; whether it was from anger or embarrassment, I couldn't say. He struggled for a response, but could only mutter the beginnings of words. I chuckled at the ridiculous display before me, well pleased that my remark had found its target.

"Catch you later, Kirito," I said as I began to walk away.

"You'd better not mention anything to Argo…" Kirito grumbled from behind.

I waved dismissively, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure she'll find out somehow~"

"Raiden!" he all but roared through gritted teeth.

I bid farewell as I drew further away, the nighttime environment of Tolbana surrounding me as I began to look for an inn. It didn't take long to find one, and I spent the rest of the night in silence, readying for the fight to come.

* * *

 _December 3rd, 2022._

Asuna, Kirito and I lagged slightly behind the largest portion of the raid party as we marched through an emerald forest. At the front, Diabel and his team confidently strode through the sage ferns, the early morning sunlight precipitating downwards through the canopy above. The sound of dirt crunching underneath footfall added its slight report to the relaxing soundscape of the forest field, but a silent tension sewed its seeds between the players of the raid party.

"Let's go over the plan again," Kirito said, speaking to Asuna, "We're the backup, so our targets are the boss' minions, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"I know," Asuna said. Frankly, she sounded bored, and after the thousandth time hearing this lecture, I was nearly asleep on my feet.

"Remember the basics that I explained about team combat, especially switching."

Asuna nodded in affirmation.

"You deflect the pole axes with a sword skill, and I switch in to finish them off…" Asuna repeated. I could almost imagine the disinterested look that she wore underneath her cloak's hood.

I gazed up at the cyclopean labyrinth tower that stood before us. The great stone column raced upwards, challenging the sky and reaching towards the second floor with purpose. Easily, it was one of the most impressive architectural designs of the game, and I wondered how many players had become lost in the endless paths inside. How many players had become lost and trapped by the countless mobs within, and fallen to the enemy.

Thankfully, Diabel's exploring party had cleared the way, and so prospect of becoming lost was of little consequence for now. Before long, the raid party stood assembled at the base of a large and ornate mason door. The air was taut with the palpable aura of nervousness and electricity as Diabel turned towards us and drove his sword into the ground,

"Listen up, team," He said, his voice collected and betraying no sign of nervousness, "Our battle strategy is perfect, so this boss fight is ours!" As he spoke, he reached backwards and placed his hand upon the massive door. The structure began to groan open behind him. Fearlessly, Diabel turned to face the boss' chamber, and cast a confident glance over his shoulder, "C'mon, let's win this!"

Slowly, as the maw of the boss' room opened, a ghastly cool wind of the hall within whistled through. All that was visible amid the vast expanse of vaulted darkness that stretched out before us were walls of columns, standing tall and raising to a high ceiling.

Two scarlet eyes greeted us from the shadows as we entered. Suddenly, the room flashed with brilliant spectrums of colors as the massive red creature before us let out a long and terrible roar from his cathedra. The floor's boss stood towering over us as he rose from his throne, and great packs of muscle shifted to accommodate the motion of such sheer limbs. Armed Sentinels appeared at his side, their eyes a similar shade of crimson from behind their gleaming helms.

"There he is…Illfang the Kobold Lord. Everything matches the intel, we can win this thing!" Diabel shouted, rallying his troops to battle. "On my lead, commence attack!"

With a fierce cry, the players of the raid party charged to meet Illfang and his forces. Amidst the tidal wave of various teams, someone flashed past me with incredible speed, weaving between the others expertly.

"The henchmen are on the move, what are you waiting for?!" the player, Asuna, asked.

"Let's do this." I said, nodding in agreement. I couldn't help but grin at the prospect of an interesting fight. This was not field-boss, the hulking monstrosity that towered before us was Illfang, the first true challenge of Sword Art Online.

The two forces met, and chaos reigned in the brilliant halls of Illfang's arena. The sound of steel and the symphony of combat was held high in the air, never missing a beat, and frequently punctuated by the sound of breaking glass as the Kobolds fell before us.

Diabel gave orders impressively, and prevented the front from collapsing into total disarray. The dynamic of the battle was fluid and constantly shifting, and yet, even in the midst of such fierce fighting, these players, who were complete strangers to one another, fought with all the strength they had. Impressive, to say the least. Even Kiabou helped his teammates, and kept his squad well-supplied with health potions.

"Team A, Team C, switch!" the self-proclaimed Knight called. His gaze flashed to the team currently engaging Illfang, "Team B, here comes the attack!" he cautioned. "Teams D, E, and F, take care of those minions!"

"Understood!" Kirito called, countering a Sentinel's attack with a sword skill and finishing the creature off with a downward strike. He turned towards me as the creature broke apart, "That's three for me."

"You're keeping count?!" I asked, somewhat incredulous.

Suddenly, his gaze flash over my should momentarily, and I ducked to the side, a pole axe falling where I stood seconds ago. With a brief flourish of steel, the armored Kobold fell as I ran my blade through the the spaces in its armored helmet, and finally, it's skull. A weak shudder later, and the Kobold broke apart.

"Looks like we're tied."

Kirito shook his head slightly, "Not bad…" He glanced at Asuna, who was a few feet ahead, and dealing impressively with her own Sentinel. "Switch!" Kirito called as he rushed toward the opponent.

With an almost seamless transition, Asuna dodged away, and allowed Kirito to surge past and occupy the Kobold with a small chain of strikes. As he parried a particularly heavy attack, Asuna expertly called for a switch, and headed to finish the Sentinel for good.

I hardly saw her rapier as it tore through the air–and the Kobold–and landed countless strikes with near-perfect accuracy. The creature hardly knew what had hit it before it fell to the ground and broke apart.

"Good job," Kirito said.

Much of the battle progressed in a similar fashion, and eventually, we had worn down the Kobold Lord to the last portion of his final health bar. With Asuna, Kirito, myself and others handling the Sentinels, the attacking teams were able to deal greater amounts of damage to Illfang without worrying about a counterattack from the minions.

Suddenly, a great roar ripped through the arena, and my gaze flashed towards Illfang as he cast away his axe and shield.

"Yes! He dropped he axe, we're nearly there!" Diabel declared confidently. "Here comes the talwar, remember the plan: parry the attacks and aim for the throat!"

Illfang cast his furious gaze towards us as Diabel's next statement rung clearly through the air,

"The next strike will finish this!" he said, his team rushing out to meet Illfang.

The towering Kobold reached to draw his secondary weapon, but the blade that he revealed looked to be anything but a talwar. The sword was curved, and had the distinct appearance of a Japanese katana, rather than a talwar.

"That…that doesn't look like a talwar to me," I said, elbowing Kirito. His eyes widened at the sight of the new blade.

"Doesn't that sword look like it's from south Asia?" Asuna noted, overhearing my concern.

Illfang held the cruel weapon high, revealing the distinct two-tone pattern that ran the length of the blade. There was no mistake: this was different from the beta! The players that were rushing Illfang were going up against a completely different set of attacks, and they were going to be slaughtered!

"No, get back!" Kirito shouted. "His backup weapon is a nodachi, not a talwar!"

"This Kobold Lord is different from the beta!" I added.

But the warnings came too late. In a furious and punishing strike, Illfang brought his nodachi down upon the unsuspecting players. Most, if not all of Diabel's team, was dealt a paralyzing attack by one single strike.

"A stun effect!" Asuna said. In an instant, she was sprinting towards the front, desperate to save the players. Within seconds, both Kirito and I had joined her; but we wouldn't reach them in time…

A single player, knocked to the ground, stared up at the terrifying Kobold Lord who stood high over him. Unable to retreat or defend himself, the player was stricken by fear and shivered, his sword having fallen to the ground in resignation to his fate.

"A follow-up attack…" I breathed in realization. Before any of us could reach that player, the Kobold Lord's strike fell...

But it didn't hit it's mark. Diabel had somehow managed to block the strike with his shield, and had taken a good amount of damage in doing so.

"Hurry up tanks, he's going to counterattack!" Kirito called, waving the stronger players behind us forward. Among them, I noted the immense presence of Agil rushing to meet Illfang.

"We're on it!" he called as he ran past, "But what about you three?"

"We'll draw him away!" we simultaneously declared.

Now, the battle had descended into true chaos. Players feverishly attacked from all sides, and what little formation there was had disintegrated. Time passed, each second an eternity, as I realized that Asuna, Kirito, and I were part of a salient; we were exposed at the front, and any one of us could be taken out by the creature before us. But there was something strangely energizing about that prospect, something that drove you to fight harder, and it was intoxicating.

The three of us fought to capture Illfang's attention, tearing through Sentinels as we cleared the way to the boss. With a perfectly-timed sword skill, Kirito brought his blade through one such, tearing its armored head from its body, as Asuna deflected an attack from a flanking Sentinel.

"Switch!" I called, rushing in to hastily finish the creature. A series of brilliant blue flashes tore through the Kobold, and its arms fell freely from its body as the creature broke apart with a defiant shriek.

His final guards now eliminated, nothing stood between us and Illfang.

"Good!" Diabel called from behind, still somewhat shaken from the brute force of the boss' attack, "Deflect his weapon, and I'll strike his throat!"

"No!" Kirito called, "Focus on defense!"

But his warning fell on deaf ears, and, with a roar, Diabel charged past us in a frenzy, hungry to bleed the Kobold Lord of his last remnants of health.

"Diabel, stop! Don't start your skill's motion!" Kirito screamed.

But there was naught that he could do, Diabel's sword already shone with a yellow light. Before I could stop her, Asuna, in some foolish and desperate attempt to save him, started to rush out towards the knight. Every action passed in the span of seconds, but the perception of time had been drawn out so incredibly long that I was able to witness each movement with perfect clarity for what seemed like the span of decades.

Thankfully, Kirito managed to reach out and catch Asuna as Illfang met Diabel with a strike of his own. Both Kirito and Asuna fell to the ground as the Kobold's nodachi tore through the raid party's leader with unrelenting fury and a terrible report.

The damage dealt was horrendous; a large part of Diabel's skull had been cleaved in half by the strike, revealing the same cheap red-grid effect that was so common throughout the game. His sword rested in Illfang's maw, and the creature crushed the blade between his teeth with a sharp crack. The steel shattered and fell to the ground, and the noble knight that had led us so effectively thus far collapsed next to the remnants of his sword.

His gaze met Kirito's, and he struggled to breathe his last words.

"T-take it…from here…" he said. As the last syllable whistled over his lips, his entire body broke apart into those same mundane iridescent shards.

The realization was slow in coming. Even I myself was numb to what I had witnessed. Diabel was dead. The same effect that appeared when you killed one of the countless mobs in this game had marked his passing; and I knew that, somewhere in the real world, his brain was being destroyed by the NerveGear. It was no way for a human being to die. But it almost felt surreal, there was no corpse, nothing with which to prove that he was actually dead. All we had was the faith in the cruel god of this world that Diabel had been killed.

Illfang roared victoriously before us, standing tall at the prospect of having taken our leader. Kirito and Asuna rose to their feet, undoubtedly shaken by the sight of death so near to them. Shaken, but not stirred, it seemed, for a vengeful determination burned within Kirito, that much I could see.

"You need to retreat…both of you." Kirito said, waving us back as he charged at Illfang. The two clashed in a series of almost invisible attacks, both determined to kill the other with equal fervor. During the engagement, there was not a second where either one of their blades was not in motion and clashing against the other as they fought with a furious chain of strikes.

But Illfang, deviating slightly from his paradigm of heavy strikes, led Kirito to defend a feint, and created an opening to attack. His target now vulnerable and with his blade held high, Illfang attempted to cleave Kirito in two, but a lightning flash was there to intervene. Asuna rushed into the fray, and the Kobold's strike never found its mark. She stood, that same burning determination surrounding her.

"Don't try to hog all the glory." she said between heavy breaths, "We're partners."

"…Alright," Kirito said, casting his gaze towards me momentarily, "You in?"

I nodded in affirmation, a grin crossing my face at the prospect of avenging Diabel,

"Let's finish the fight." I said, joining the two.

With a silent word of accord, we sprinted towards Illfang.

"Our strategy is the same as with the Sentinels," Kirito called.

"Got it." Asuna said.

None stood between the three of us and Illfang, the boss' last sweeping attack had seen to that. The spectrums of color flashed past us as we raced to meet the Kobold Lord for one final, decisive engagement. This was the match point of the fight; if we failed, the further losses would most likely demoralize the others and break their will to fight completely.

Illfang's cruel sword roared with a brilliant white light: a sword skill. Countering with a radiant attack of his own, Kirito cancelled the Kobold's strike and created an opening as both he and the creature staggered backwards.

While Asuna and Kirito attacked from the front, I raced behind the Kobold Lord and, switching to a reverse grip on my sword, plunged the blade deep within the base of his knee. Roaring in anger and pain, Illfang was forced to keel, and the light faded from his nodachi as he struggled to rise to his feet once more. Asuna capitalized on the openinn perfectly. She rushed forwards, her rapier shimmering and ready to strike; but there was something wrong, there was an almost imperceptible tightening of the Kobold's taut red skin, and the boss' eyes shone with voracious intent. Kirito and I both noticed,

"Asuna!" we called. The Kobold Lord moved with impressive speed as he rose to his feet, and his sword arced downwards furiously. Somehow, Asuna managed to reposition herself midair as she moved, and Illfang's strike fell where she had been milliseconds ago. An angry red line traced along her cloak, and it broke apart into shining fragments as she pressed her attack. Without her hood, her long chestnut hair fell free; it was braided at the back to keep her bangs out of her face, but she allowed the rest to fall down her back.

Disregarding her opponent's former insult-of-a-strike, Asuna remained completely focused and countered with a fierce series of attacks. Both Kirito and I watched in something akin to amazement as Miss Fencer singlehandedly held her ground against Illfang. The skill that she wielded her rapier with was incredible, to say the least. The tip of her sword was invisible, and raced through the air as a shooting star.

"He's coming back again!" Kirito called after a moment. He hastily switched with Asuna and countered Illfang's attack once more, forcing the monster backwards, and allowing Asuna a chance to retaliate. Hoping to force the creature to kneel once more, I began to run to the side of Illfang, waiting for an ideal opportunity to strike from the flank.

Suddenly, Illfang lunged forward at Kirito, the monster's blade now shining a dull crimson, and began a long chain of heavy and contiguous attacks. Kirito managed to parry or deflect each one; however, they had been part of another feint strike. After a vicious horizontal slice, Illfang brought his blade upwards harshly, and the successful attack threw Kirito backwards into Asuna, knocking them both off-balance.

Asuna managed to stand, but Kirito, having endured the brunt of the attack, was badly injured; I noticed that his health had dropped well into the yellow. I attempted to break away from my flanking route to intercept Illfang before he could finish my allies off, but I knew that it was futile…I was too far away.

"Kirito, Asuna!" The scream vainly ripped at my throat.

Illfang raised his sword high, ready to finish of more members of our raid party, only as a familiar figure rushed into the fray. Agil, with his immense axe, deflected the Kobold Lord's attack and sent the monstrosity several feet back. As I reached Kirito and Asuna, the other players of Agil's team began to surround Illfang to capitalize on the opportunity.

"We'll hold him off until you recover." Agil said, unwavering in his tone.

Kirito looked up in gratitude, "You got it."

With a nod, Agil rushed to join his comrades in battle, and Kirito hastily downed a health potion from Asuna. I realized that Illfang had become accustomed to our usual pattern of attacks, and that we would need to change our approach in order to finish him. Worse still, the Kobold Lord's nodachi allowed for an entirely unseen arsenal of sword skills, and it was likely he was testing to see which ones were more effective. I remembered what Diabel had said, and explained to Kirito that a strike to the throat was most likely our best chance of success.

Moments later, Illfang knocked the attacking players back and leapt high into the air, his sword shining with lethal violet lambency.

"Watch out!" Kirito called, recognizing the forthcoming attack. He sprinted forwards, and the creature, who was focused solely on Agil and his team, was caught off-guard by Kirito's retaliation. With a masterful attack and a roar his own, Kirito brought Illfang to the ground and forced him away from the wounded raid members. He landed and rolled to recover from the fall.

"Asuna, Raiden, let's do this! One more strike!"

"You got it!" Asuna said, running to join Kirito.

"Alright!" I said, joining my allies.

With a great shout, the three of us charged towards Illfang, both Asuna and I ducking underneath the first sword skill as Kirito parried from the front. With the Kobold's flank exposed and his next sword skill charging, Asuna rushed in from the side and ran the creature through with her rapier with a frenzied flash of her blade. Reeling from the brutal attack, Illfang staggered backwards and allowed me the perfect opportunity to attack his throat. I brought my saber across his neck, my sword's blade tracing a long and ragged red arc as it passed through the flesh. I rolled as I landed and rejoined Kirito as Asuna recovered from dealing a strike to Illfang herself. The Kobold Lord roared in agony, and struggled to recover from the fierce series of attacks, but there was no rest for the wicked.

Finally, with a shout, Kirito lunged forward, his eyes blazing vengefully as he plunged his blade deep within Illfang's side. The Kobold Lord screamed in pain as Kirito's blade ripped through his flesh, the strike sending Aincrad's first boss several feet into the air as it began to shine with a brilliant white light. The boss' chamber fell silent, and the corpse of Illfang the Kobold Lord broke apart into thousands of glass-like fragments above us.

As the glass-like fragments began to rain downwards like a strange form of reflective snow, one of the stunned players managed to find his voice.

"We…we did it!"

Instantly, a mad euphoria swept through the players, and each one, drunk on their first true victory over the death game, shouted. Many laughed, and I noticed that some of the more relieved players were even crying.

I rested myself upon the hilt of my sword, shoulders heaving as my breaths came in ragged inhalations. Almost every ounce of simulated strength that I had in this world had been consumed by the battle against Illfang. I felt a hand fall on my shoulder, it was Asuna's.

"Nicely done," she said.

I nodded in response, "Thanks. You did well too, Miss Fencer."

A few feet away, Kirito still knelt from where he had struck Illfang down. The room's vibrant transitions of color faded somewhat, its former occupant having been slain, and I presumed that Kirito was glancing over his last attacking bonus.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught my attention, and I was surprised at how loud they sounded in a room that, not five minutes earlier, echoed with the clash of steel and the chaos of battle. I turned to see Agil approaching,

"That was remarkable swordsmanship, all of you," he said, "This victory belongs to you, Kirito, congratulations."

"N-no," Kirito said, "it should belong to all of the raid party."

But his denial came too late, for the crowd behind us had already begun to praise Kirito. He seemed taken aback slightly by the sudden outpouring of support from the remnant of the raid party, and smiled slightly in response. Then came a piercing cry from the crowd.

"Why?!" The challenge came from none other than Kiabou, and what little applause there was ceased immediately, "…Why'd you let Diabel die?"

"Let him die?"

It didn't take any sort of psychiatrist to recognize that Kiabou had been shattered by the death of Diabel, the gifted orator-of-a-knight responsible for catalyzing our ranks into an effective fighting force. He allowed every bit of his anger to supercharge his voice as he spoke,

"Yeah! You knew the boss' moves, you could see through his sword skills, even when he used the nodachi! If you'd shared beforehand, he wouldn't have died!"

"He must have been a beta-tester!" one of the players accused, "That's how he knew the boss' attacks…and I bet he's not the only one! Admit it, you cowards!"

In an instant, the air changed from jubilant to looked at each other nervously, and their eyes scanned each other harshly, almost as if they were looking for traces that the others around them were beta-testers. The cancer of doubt had returned with full virulence, and I knew that if things didn't improve, players would begin to turn against each other. Asuna herself seemed nervous as she glanced at the players around her.

A lone laugh echoed through the great hall. It was a fractious laugh, one that held nothing but contempt. Asuna, Agil, and I turned to the source, and I was taken aback when I saw that it had come from Kirito.

"A beta-tester?" Kirito questioned, "A beta-tester?! Don't even put me in the same league as those newbies."

"W-what?!" an outraged Kiabou uttered.

"The majority of SAO's original beta-testers were amateurs that didn't even know how to level up. Even you guys are better than they are." As Kirito spoke, he made his way through the crowd, and eventually passed Asuna and myself. Judging from the expression on her face, she had managed to guess what Kirito was doing as well. He was playing the role of the scapegoat to a tee, giving the players of this game a common enemy, neither beta-tester or newcomer, but something else entirely.

"I knew the boss' attack patterns because I've fought hundreds, no, _thousands_ , of katana-wielding monsters on floors far above this one. I've reached floors that no one else could, and I know far more than any information broker, so don't try to compare me to such pathetic excuses for players in this game."

By now, most of the raid party members were livid. I dared not speak, though Kiabou managed to find his voice fairly easily,

"If–if that's true, then you're worse than a beta-tester! You're a cheater!" he declared. The other players were quick to agree, raising their own angry insults towards Kirito, the very person that they were congratulating not five minutes earlier.

"A cheater and a beta-tester! He's a beater!" someone declared. Kirito straightened at that particular title. A dry and hollow laugh escaped him as he repeated the unofficial name:

"Beater…I like that." Kirito said as he scrolled through his menu and equipped his last attack bonus: a long dark coat. "A beater! I like the sound of that…I'll be claiming that title, along with this last attack bonus!" His gaze sharpened suddenly, taking on a rare degree of fierceness, "Don't you ever insult me by comparing me to those former testers ever again."

With a swift turn upon his heels, Kirito began to walk towards the pathway that led to the second floor. He waved over his shoulder towards the raid party,

"I'll be heading to the next floor now; I'd recommend that you go to a town and stay put, maybe you'll survive that way."

In the matter of a few short sentences, Kirito had effectively isolated himself from almost every other player in the game. He had done so out of necessity, and forced himself into the role of a solo player, knowing full well that there were very absolute limitations for such. It was an impressive act of selflessness, and I realized that, as a beta-tester myself, Kirito had helped to take much of the hatred that would have been directed towards me upon himself. I doubted that I could have been so absolutely altruistic.

Asuna had taken off after the 'beater', and I decided to follow suit. If for nothing else, I at least owed Kirito thanks for his actions as a friend. Without his efforts, I, along with the other beta-testers in this game, would have become reviled among the new players. However, by the time I reached the staircase, Asuna and Kirito were already conversing. As they concluded, Kirito turned away, presumably to head to the second floor.

"Impressive," I called, catching Kirito before he could head through the gate, "You saved the beta-testers' reputations…Thanks. Whether they know it or not, you've saved a lot of people here today." Kirito seemed genuinely surprised by my response, though his expression quickly changed to one of realization.

"You knew what I was doing, then."

I nodded, "Yeah, and if you ever need my help, just ask. I'd imagine it'll be pretty lonely at the top."

The game's first and only beater looked at me,

"Thanks, I'll be sure to do that." he said, before chuckling, "Try not to ruin the beta-testers' reputation yourself, Raiden."

I laughed, "As I said before, no promises."

As my words hung still in the air of Illfang's hall, Kirito gave some small wave before he turned and headed through the gateway to the second floor. I stood in silence, scanning over the stone gateway, until I felt an angry elbow jab into my side.

I recoiled away, and realized that the attack had come from Asuna,

"What was that for?!"

"Did you forget the deal we made before the battle?"

My silence was apparently an answer enough, and she frowned as she rested her hands on her hips.

"You were interrupted before we headed to Tolbana…" she said, giving me one last chance to redeem myself. The lightbulb of realization flashed brilliantly in my mind as she spoke, and I snapped my fingers in remembrance.

"Oh yeah…that. It was a question," I said, opening my menu and sending Asuna a friend request, not bothering to fully state my inquisition. In all honesty, that was a lie. I didn't want to have to repeat an apology, let alone admit that I had done so in the first place. Since then, I had also realized that having an ally like Asuna could pay off in the long run.

"Just to make it easier in case we need to meet up again. There are quite a few bosses between here and the hundredth floor, after all…" I added.

She smiled at that reasoning, and, in that brief and shining instant, it was easy to see why Kirito was struck by her.

"Of course," she said, before accepting the friend request.

"Thanks. I may or may not have forgotten about that deal. Guess I owe you for that…"

"Don't think I won't take you up on your word," Asuna said, smirking somewhat. "You are a terrible liar, after all."

I recoiled in shock, nearly falling off of the staircase in surprise. Had I become so translucent in recent times that I was that easy to read? Spurred on by this recent development, I decided that I needed to be alone for some time in order to regain my composure. It was best that I move on to the next floor as soon as possible.

"Well, so long, Asuna. I'll be moving on." I said as I began to head up towards the gate. Miss Fencer's voice stopped me momentarily, though,

"Yeah, but I'll catch up to you soon…" she said.

A small smirk pulled at my lips in response, but I never turned back to face Asuna. Instead, I proceeded onwards to the field that awaited beyond the floor's gate.

Asuna, Kirito, they would both go far in this game, much farther than I could hope for. Kirito had singlehandedly united the players against himself by giving them a common enemy, and the ability to unify the players was something far more valuable than any sword skill. Asuna though, she had combat prowess the like of which I couldn't believe. Her speed was remarkable, and I knew that she would become the swiftest player in this game. She would catch up with me, no doubt, but she would go so much further ahead.

As I stared out at the sprawling expanse of the second floor, I wondered if _I_ would be able to catch _her_ , or catch Kirito, for that matter. They would no doubt go on to become two of the greatest front-runners in the game.

But win, lose, live or die, regardless of reputation or prowess, the battle had only just begun. As the old adage goes, 'If you want peace, prepare for war.' There's a lot of truth to that. The only way to ensure liberation from this game was to fight through every monstrosity that awaited us; and the fight against Illfang had marked the first step toward such. We had taken our first step towards the real world.

* * *

 **Why hello there, reader! I really appreciate you taking the time to read Arpeggio of Steel! This was the first real combat of the story, and I'd really like to hear your feedback on it. As always, reviews, follows, favorites, and feedback are all appreciated.**

 **Thanks, one and all,**

– **CossackSabre**


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